Great night! I really like the approach to pure washoku and am glad that somewhere like this exists in LA, opting to serve items like kue and shiroamadai with subtle seasoning instead of usual powerful luxury ingredients.
I liked the 1-2-3 of the grilled nodoguro, the anago tempura, and hamo matsutake nabe.
Nodoguro is really tasty of course, and the sweet onion still had a little bit of crispness which was a nice contrast. And the bizen-yaki plate, with its scorched earth hues matched the ingredients visually and its matte texture a nice foil as well to the oily fish.
Whereas the nodoguro’s fattiness and onion’s sweetness lingered, the anago tempura’s crispness and ginko’s mild bitterness were “short” and a nice reset. I think the ankake was a nice bridge with the ginnan’s smooth but denser texture, too. The plating was also quite bare, so it was a visual contrast to the nodoguro before.
And the hamo, which is cut to resemble a chrysanthemum when it flowers in the broth, is a subtle dish. I think that cress had just the right note to not overpower the fine hamo and matsutake. Proportions were good as the matsutake’s thicker cut here is key.
The drink list is a lot of fun already, but I look forward to see what new sakes he’ll have at a future visit, too. Thanks to kind neighbors for sharing some of their drinks, as well.
As someone who isn’t really into fine dining I thought Hayato was amazing and appreciated the focus on extremely high quality ingredients and technique vs. luxury items such as truffle, caviar, etc.
Highlights were the chestnut and scallop tempura, tilefish in dashi, roasted onion over charcoals, and Dungeness crab rice.
I would say 95% of what we ate we thought was unbelievable. The only dishes I was lukewarm about were the hamo with mitsuba course which seemed like it was maybe lacking some salt or seasoning, and I didn’t really care for the abalone even though it was certainly very rich and flavorful.
Tough to nail austere style kaiseki. Seriously, this was legit excellent all round! Bestest restaurant in LA imo.
Henceforth I shall request all future seiko-ganis to be served warm.
I really enjoyed listening to Brandon’s detailed explanation of the preparation styles, ingredient choices etc. This level of detail is often lost in translation while dining in Japan. You can really feel his passion and dedication to his craft. Also I finally got an explanation on the reason for the wider flaps on his donabe vs the regular edition.
You’re the reason why I don’t need to post photos of my experience at Hayato you got all the shots and captions perfectly hahaha I just went today. My friend who is a first timer loved it. She did not like the hamo nor the karasumi. But she is very picky with certain tastes and textures so that’s why. Otherwise she’s loved it as non sushi eater and non foodie. The sake selection was
I dont think its fair that you are able to book as a regular so many times and take away opportunities from first timers who have never had the chance to go. Its torture that you are showing off how many times you have gone while many never seem to be able to get a reservation.
I don’t think it’s fair that you are able to eat PRD hainan chicken so many times and take away opportunities from first timers who have never had the chance. It’s torture that you are showing off how many times you have gone while many never seem to be able to get an order.
