Hayato (Downtown L.A.): A Pictorial Essay

Kimonos.

Just kidding. California casual chic would be fine. But I think the “No shirt, no shoes, no kaiseki.” rule applies here.

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No joke. Would you give a couple of examples of this please? And I pray that wearing a hat indoors isn’t okay :slight_smile:

I didn’t have time to change after work, so I went in my business casual work clothes. Everyone else was dressed trendy with dark jeans or slacks (a la California casual).

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In SoCal, what is that please?

Here’s a good example: @Ns1 at work

Image result for corgi at work

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Does anywhere in SoCal have dress codes ? The only one I can think of is a no open-toed shoes policy at 71ABOVE.

I ate at Hayato in waxed black denim jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a blue pinstriped blazer… so pretty much a shiftless bum, and no one said anything, so I think you can wear whatever you like.

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Like the tie and the boa!

Magic Castle

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California Club

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Can confirm they actually enforce this. They have loaner jackets for guys.

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And they have ties, too! They’ll even tie your tie for you in case you are inept. I’ve seen it.

I remember having to wear one as a teenager coming on a Sunday for brunch and a show lol!

Can confirm no jacket or tie required for halloween

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I like the ultimate uni disguise!

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Chef Go live in action! :yum:

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Summer’s the time for some Uni-Corn

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Instead of creating my own thread, I’ll just piggyback off of JL’s post. There were a few different items that I had compared to all of the other reviews out there, so there is some variance in what one might see compared to the other reviews that we’ve all drooled over.

Chef Go also mentioned that if he knows (or is made aware) of the fact that you are a repeat customer, he will try his best to make new dishes, though I’m sure that is dependent on his ability to source ingredients.

I was also privileged enough to get served Juyondai - Chou Tokusen for the opening sake, and it was every bit as glorious as the others have stated…my was even topped off a few times. For the remainder of the meal, I ordered a couple of glasses of sake since I’m not a big drinker: Mizubasho Ginjo (Gunma) and HakkaisanTokubetsu Junmai (Niigata). Both were good, but of course they didn’t really stand a chance following the Juyondai. My sister also ordered a Hitachino Nest Yuzu Lager.

Japanese Eggplant, Hokkaido Uni, Abalone steamed in sake, Snapper Dashi with Sudachi and thickened w/ starch

Bonito Tataki - Seared over bincho coals, Kabosu Ponzu, Myoga
This was the second half of a two-part sashimi course. Instead of serving this with the tai sashimi, this came out as a separate dish.

Hamo, Ume, Shiso Kamameshi
Yes, the amount served is a bit on the small side, but Chef Go will keep dishing out the rice until everyone is done…he mentioned that to-date no one has finished the rice. That coupled with the fact that the you can get seconds, thirds, fourths, and fifths of the sake jelly peaches, leaving Hayato with an empty belly is only possible if you are a Porkybelly-level eater, or choose not to get refills of the rice and dessert courses.

As many have already stated, it’s exciting to have a high-level kaiseki place in LA; I’m looking forward to my next meal at Hayato…

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Ha, he must be making more rice. He told us we were the only ones to finish off all the rice.

And nice report, that uni and sashimi look great. Was the uni your first course?

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He also said the most anyone had was 5 bowls.

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I want to go back in september and asked chef go if the menu would be significantly different from what I had in July. He said it’s been difficult to get new stuff from Japan because of the holidays and typhoon season. He anticipates the entire menu changing in October.

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