Two of Hong Kong’s Biggest Restaurateurs Are Opening in Downtown LA

One of the bigger international dining stories of the past few years has to be Lindsay Jang and Matt Abergel of Hong Kong’s Yardbird and Ronin. The pair, both born in Canada, have an extensive New York City dining resume through places like Masa and Nobu, but moved to Hong Kong for work, ultimately opening up what would become one of the most popular restaurants in the entire city back in 2011. Now they’re exporting some of those flavors to the U.S. mainland, with plans to open a project in Downtown Los Angeles.

After originally teasing out the idea of bringing a restaurant to Silver Lake last year, the pair ultimately decided to drop something into the heart of Downtown instead. It won’t be in Little Tokyo or the Arts District, but rather an unannounced location closer to the center of it all.

As for what to expect, Jang tells Eater that this new restaurant will lean heavily on the familiar favorites of their bustling restaurants back in Hong Kong. That means Japanese yakitori at its finest, along with stiff drinks and, likely, no reservations accepted. In terms of timeline, don’t expect anything until the second quarter of 2019, most likely, though chef Matt Abergel will be in town to participate in the Street Elite Food Bowl event put on by the L.A. Times on Sunday, May 6 at E.P. & L.P.

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