Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Türkiye
    • Eating Dutch
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Hayato Highs

Dec14

Restaurant: Hayato [1, 2]

Location: 1320 E 7th St #126, Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 395-0607

Date: October 23, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Kaiseki

Rating: Amazing

_

For Fred’s final diner we again traveled east to DTLA Japanese newcomer, Hayato.
7U1A0636

7U1A0635
It’s located in Downtown’s fancy new “ROW” complex — and quite hard to find (use the guide on the website).

7U1A0641-Pano
It’s tiny, only 8 seats, and helmed entirely by chef Brandon Go. As he says, Hayato is the culmination of a twenty year journey he has taken as an American-born chef learning about Japanese cuisine.
DSC08168
Brandon says himself:

My Japanese father owns a sushi restaurant in the Los Angeles area, and I began working in his restaurant when I was fifteen years old. As with most Americans, sushi was the gateway through which I became seriously interested in Japanese food. During my teenage years, I made sushi. Throughout college, I made more sushi. After graduating from college, I went to live in Tokyo for a short time, I got a job in an izakaya, and I started to realize that sushi is a very tiny part of Japanese culinary tradition. I have spent rest of my life trying to learn the rest of it.

I dreamt of having my own restaurant since I began making sushi. But the type of restaurant I wanted to open has evolved since then. For my entire life, I have heard Japanese chefs talk of how good the cooking is in Japan, but how it would be impossible to garner support for truly authentic Japanese cooking in the U.S. because of how different American tastes are. I heard this constantly from chefs both in Japan and at home. I have even read it in cookbooks. Because of this, I always envisioned my restaurant being mostly authentic but having to play to the American tastes in order to ensure survival.

7U1A0637
Like at many good Japanese places, the service is very elegant.
7U1A0639
Look at these cute gold sake bowls with a complementary shot of sake.
7U1A0654
Here is the chef, Brandon Go.
7U1A0650
Fred brought: some older NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 94. The NV Brut Rosé is brilliant and finely-sculpted in the glass, with floral aromatics, pulsating minerality and chiseled fruit. Less austere than it can be, the Rosé impresses for its combination of tension and textured, phenolic weight. There is so much to like. This release (ID 213027) is based on the 2006 vintage. The blend is 59% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 8% Pinot Meunier.
7U1A0658
Abalone with okra, fava beans and broth made from simmered fish bone. This had that dashi taste and slightly goopy “slimy” Japanese texture. Delicious!
7U1A0664
More prep right in front of you.

7U1A0647
Paul served his wine blind.

7U1A0662
Paul brought: 2007 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95. A huge, almost overpowering Burgundy, the 2007 Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet possesses towering structure and imposing depth, with seemingly endless layers of texture that fill out its broad, ample frame. The flavors are naturally unevolved at this stage; instead what stands out is the wine’s explosive personality and overall intensity. This is a very strong showing from a wine that sometimes gets lost in the Leflaive range.
7U1A0669
Tempura anago with Oregon chestnut. The anago is larger so the bones are bigger. He cut he anago honekiri style which is the same technique used for hamo (conger eel). It is the very fine slicing of the eel and bones to make the bones edible, leaving the skin portion intact. The chestnuts had a lovely chewy texture.
7U1A0674
Marinated Japanese mackerel with sushi rice, sesame, and seaweed. Mackerel is medium fatty. Very very old fashioned sushi! Delicious.
7U1A0675
Elegant lacquer bowls.
7U1A0682
Boston lobster dumpling with Oregon matsutake broth. The broth had this amazing dashi/mushroom flavor and the dumpling was a burst of lobster-ness. Stunning.
7U1A0645
From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 94. Beautifully elegant and spicy aromas of obvious class introduce massive, sappy and notably concentrated flavors that are sweet and pure with buckets of dry extract that cause the palate impression to seem quite texturally dense, even chewy. This is an opulent wine of immense potential with plenty of muscle, weight and power. Extremely impressive.

7U1A0687
Tai sashimi with spot prawns. Delicious fresh sashimi.
7U1A0688
More gorgeous prep.
DSC08214
Katsuo grilled over bincho charcoal and topped with grated ginger, daikon radish, and ginger flower. Some amazing fish.
7U1A0648
Fred brought: 2001 Coche-Dury Meursault. VM 91. Pure, discreet aromas of candied fruits and minerals. Juicy, taut and minerally, with terrific precision and grip. Long and stony on the back end. Serious juice, and precise for the vintage.
DSC08215
Seared wild Hokkaido scallop (sweeter and more firm) and topped with fried seaweed.
DSC08218
The crab prep.

DSC08221
Grilled eggplant topped with Dungeness crab. This dashi was super thick and goopy with lots of starch. The crabbiness was absolutely amazing too.
DSC08226
Grilled blackthroat sea bream (nodogoro) and grilled lotus root. Nodogoro is very expensive, more than toro. Usually $12-$20 a slice for sushi. He served us a huge piece so we could taste the oil and texture on the fish. Wouldn’t have thought I’d enjoy a piece of whitefish this much. The lotus was also fabulous.
7U1A0646
Erick brought: 1999 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94. Three wines from Domaine Leflaive are all in terrific shape. The 1999 Chevalier-Montrachet has an almost phenolic intensity to it, with plenty of almond and honey notes woven throughout. This is an especially powerful Chevalier, but I also get an impression that the freshness is starting to fade, so the 1999 is probably best enjoyed sooner rather than later.
DSC08229
More cooking in front of us.
DSC08233
Grilled snapper in dashi broth with mushrooms and greens. (Only dish I’m not 100% sure on fish). More good whitefish.
DSC08238
Grilled kinmedai rice. Kinmedai is also a highly prized sushi ingredient. Expensive and really delicious.
DSC08241
Special roasted tea.
DSC08242
Prepping pickles to go with the rice.
DSC08243
The rice with tea, pickles, and some miso soup. Classic rice and pickles.
DSC08244
A close up of this stunning rice. We got 2-3 helpings to to “fill us up.”
DSC08246
Lovely pickles.
DSC08247
Special miso soup — really nice.
DSC08249
A second kind of tea.
DSC08250
Nice little dessert fork.

DSC08251
Jelly of plums and other fruit. Nice and light.
DSC08256
Salted Caramel Hazelnut Gelato – the unholy love child of my Salted Caramel and Nocciola flavors, literally the recipe is an on paper merger of both base flavors. The salted caramel was made in house and the hazelnuts are from Torino (best in the world) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SaltedCaramel #Caramel #Hazelnut #Nocciola #nuts
DSC08259
The room — lived in.
7U1A0769
And our wine line up.

Overall, stunning evening.

Hayato was some of the best food I had in 2018 and really reminded me why classic Japanese cooking can be so fabulous. It focuses on the ingredients and bringing forth this very natural expression of nature’s bounty. Every dish just tasted great.

Plus there was the intimacy of being right there with the chef — and our great crew — and our great wines.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club meals. Or a second meal at Hayato.

Related posts:

  1. Burg at Kagura
  2. Yamakase Seven
  3. I-Driva to I-Naba
  4. Takao Top Omakase
  5. N/Naka Birthday
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Hayato, Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki
Watch the Trailer or

Buy it Online!

Buy it Online!

Find Andy at:

Follow Me on Pinterest

Subscribe by email:

More posts on:



Complete Archives

Categories

  • Contests (7)
  • Fiction (404)
    • Books (113)
    • Movies (77)
    • Television (123)
    • Writing (115)
      • Darkening Dream (62)
      • Untimed (37)
  • Food (1,765)
  • Games (101)
  • History (13)
  • Technology (21)
  • Uncategorized (16)

Recent Posts

  • Happy Hibi
  • Eating Naples - Palazzo Petrucci
  • Eating San Foca - Aura
  • Eating Otranto - ArborVitae
  • Eating Lecce - Gimmi
  • Eating Lecce - Varius
  • Eating Lecce - Duo
  • Eating Lecce - Doppiozero
  • Eating Torre Canne - Autentico
  • Eating Torre Canne - Beach
  • Eating Monopoli - Orto
  • Eating Trani - Gallo
  • Eating Savelletri - Due Camini
  • Eating Carovigno - Già Sotto l’Arco
  • Eating Polignano - Tranquillage
  • Eating Ostuni - Cielo
  • Eating Venice - Quadri
  • Eating Venice - La Colombina
  • Eating Venice - Rossopomodoro
  • Eating Venice - Alle Corone

Favorite Food Posts

  • Food Home
  • Food Index
  • Foodie Club
  • Hedonists
  • LA Sushi Index
  • Chinese Food
  • LA Peking Duck
  • Eating Italy
  • Eating France
  • Eating Spain
  • Eating Türkiye
  • Eating Dutch
  • Eating Croatia
  • Eating Vietnam
  • Eating Australia
  • Eating Israel
  • Ultimate Pizza
  • Margarita Mix
  • ThanksGavin
  • Foodie Photography
  • Burgundy Vintages

Tags

Andy Gavin Arts beef Book Review books Burgundy BYOG California Champagne Chinese cuisine Chinese Food Cooking Dessert eating-italy Fiction Food Foodie Club Game of Thrones Gelato George R. R. Martin HBO hedonists Italian cuisine Italy Japanese cuisine Los Angeles lunch Naughty Dog pasta Pizza Restaurant Restaurant Review reviews Sage Society Santa Monica Santa Monica California Sauvages SGV side dishes Sushi Television ThanksGavin The Darkening Dream vegetarian Wine

Archives

  • May 2025 (4)
  • April 2025 (4)
  • February 2025 (5)
  • January 2025 (3)
  • December 2024 (13)
  • November 2024 (14)
  • October 2024 (14)
  • September 2024 (15)
  • August 2024 (13)
  • July 2024 (15)
  • June 2024 (14)
  • May 2024 (15)
  • April 2024 (13)
  • March 2024 (9)
  • February 2024 (7)
  • January 2024 (9)
  • December 2023 (8)
  • November 2023 (14)
  • October 2023 (13)
  • September 2023 (9)
  • August 2023 (15)
  • July 2023 (13)
  • June 2023 (14)
  • May 2023 (15)
  • April 2023 (14)
  • March 2023 (12)
  • February 2023 (11)
  • January 2023 (14)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (14)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (12)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (6)
  • May 2022 (8)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (8)
  • December 2021 (6)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (8)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (11)
  • March 2020 (15)
  • February 2020 (13)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (13)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (14)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (10)
  • March 2019 (10)
  • February 2019 (11)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (14)
  • November 2018 (11)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (15)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (13)
  • April 2018 (13)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (15)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (16)
  • September 2017 (16)
  • August 2017 (16)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (13)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (14)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (11)
  • September 2016 (12)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (13)
  • April 2016 (12)
  • March 2016 (13)
  • February 2016 (12)
  • January 2016 (13)
  • December 2015 (14)
  • November 2015 (14)
  • October 2015 (13)
  • September 2015 (13)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (16)
  • June 2015 (13)
  • May 2015 (13)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (13)
  • January 2015 (13)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (13)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (15)
  • July 2014 (13)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (14)
  • April 2014 (14)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (11)
  • January 2014 (13)
  • December 2013 (14)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (12)
  • August 2013 (14)
  • July 2013 (10)
  • June 2013 (14)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (15)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (14)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (13)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (12)
  • June 2012 (16)
  • May 2012 (21)
  • April 2012 (18)
  • March 2012 (20)
  • February 2012 (23)
  • January 2012 (31)
  • December 2011 (35)
  • November 2011 (33)
  • October 2011 (32)
  • September 2011 (29)
  • August 2011 (35)
  • July 2011 (33)
  • June 2011 (25)
  • May 2011 (31)
  • April 2011 (30)
  • March 2011 (34)
  • February 2011 (31)
  • January 2011 (33)
  • December 2010 (33)
  • November 2010 (39)
  • October 2010 (26)
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2025 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin