:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62400849/kato_dish_instagram.0.jpg)
Kato’s winter break
Jon Yao, the chef and co-founder of Kato, will be cooking at the Regent in Taipei from December 1 to 10, which means Kato will be closed during his absense from November 27 to December 17. It’s a bit of a long hiatus but it does allow one of LA’s bright young stars to showcase his talent in Taiwan over ten days. The West LA restaurant hopes to reopen by December 18, just in time for some prime holiday meals.
Tara’s expansion
Tara’s Himalayan Cuisine, one of LA’s most unique restaurants that features Nepalese cuisine, in addition to Tibetan and Indian specialties, will expand to a prime Santa Monica location on 26th Street across from the Brentwood Country Mart. Toddrickallen reports that the space was previously Kayndaves, a Mexican restaurant.
Hawaiian flavors in Gardena
LA Mag takes a look at Island Flavor Cafe, a robust Hawaiian restaurant serving favorites like loco moco, oxtail soup, and poke, of course. Apparently the cafe does a nice job of serving the small but close-knit community of Hawaiians living in the South Bay.
House made tofu FTW
The LA Times writes a nice feature on Surawon Tofu House, a newish restaurant (well it recently reopened as a tofu spot after operating for ten years under the Surawon moniker) serving house made Korean tofu, a bit of a rarity even in LA’s massive Koreatown. The spicy tofu stew isn’t the only thing to order — apparently the galbitang and buchimgae pancakes are also excellent.
Disney California Adventure’s secret new bar
TimeOut has the scoop on a new adults-only bar called the Terrace Lounge at the Carthay Circle section of Disneyland’s California Adventure, with a nice high view of the park and no reservations. The bar only handles 24 people at a time, making it one of the rare places to enjoy cocktails in the park. The lounge opens daily at noon and closes depending on the day of the week.
