Just as the sun began to set over The Row, Cecelia and I tucked into Hayato for a one-of-a-kind kaiseki dinner orchestrated by Chef Brandon Go. We had secured reservations as soon as the restaurant expanded their offerings beyond lunchtime bento boxes and were excited to experience “true Japanese cooking” (washoku) in downtown Los Angeles.

Lasting nearly three hours and costing $200 per person (plus a 16% service charge), dinner at Hayato is hardly a casual affair. It is the kind of meal that ought to be planned in advanced, eagerly anticipated, and completely relished in the moment.

“Hayato is the culmination of a 20-year journey I have taken as an American-born chef learning about Japanese cuisine,” says Chef Go, who was born in Southern California and raised in his father’s sushi restaurant in Seal Beach.

We were joined at the counter by two other guests this evening. The four of us were greeted with sake and treated to a dozen courses, each highlighting a traditional Japanese “cooking” technique—sashimi, grilling, steaming, frying, and simmering. The results were seemingly simple, austere even, deriving their complexity from the impeccable ingredients.

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