Kato reopens in its new location downtown

Kato downtown

Chef Jon Yao’s Kato — a celebrated Taiwanese-inspired tasting-menu restaurant and The Times’ best restaurant in 2019 — reopened Feb. 8 in a new, larger space. Partners Yao, Nikki Reginaldo and Ryan Bailey closed the West L.A. strip-mall location in November to prepare their new space in the Arts District’s Row DTLA complex, in the former home of restaurant M. Georgina. The new 4,400-square-foot location offers views of an open kitchen, plus nearly 50 seats and a bar, with a patio and a dedicated bar menu set to debut later. Kato will run from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.

777 S. Alameda St., Building 1, Suite 114, Los Angeles, katorestaurant.com

Kato’s new downtown location allows for a larger dining room, more seating, a patio and a bar.

(Jeni Afuso / Kato)

Selva

A new Colombian restaurant has opened in Long Beach’s Zaferia neighborhood, serving wood-fired family-style meats and seafood, plus cocktails, desserts and shareable plates such as arepas, anticuchos and buñuelos inspired by chef Carlos Jurado’s heritage. It is Jurado’s first restaurant (he previously cooked at Vespertine and Husk), opened in partnership with husband-and-wife team Geoff and Karna Rau. The Raus ran the Hideaway steakhouse, which closed because of COVID-19; Selva has taken over that space and emphasizes ingredients of coastal and mountainous Colombia — as well as greater South America. The beer and wine lists source from South America and beyond, with many of the cocktails featuring pisco, cachaça, mezcal or Colombian-made vodka or rum. Selva is open 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday.

4137 Anaheim St., Long Beach, (562) 343-5630, selvalbc.com

Long Beach’s new restaurant Selva serves wood-fired meats, house-made milk buns, ceviches, croquettes and more.

(Carlos Jurado / Selva)

Ella

Ella, a bistro and bar from the team behind Melrose Umbrella Co., is set to open Feb. 10 within the Sixty Beverly Hills Hotel. The menu, with California and global culinary influences, will include steaks, oysters, focaccia, mussels, pizzas and burgers. The kitchen of the ground-floor space is being run by chef Brian Min (formerly of Mama Shelter and Laurel Hardware). Zach Patterson and Dorian De Tappan have devised a cocktail menu of classics-leaning drinks tinged with produce such as golden beets, lime and orange. The space also features a natural-wine bottle shop with a “social currency” option for diners to waive the corkage fee if they send a glass from their bottle to another table. The bistro will be open for dinner from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; a coffee shop within the restaurant is already open 7 to 11 a.m. daily.

9360 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 388-6860, ellabeverlyhills.com

California-inspired bistro Ella is set to open in Beverly Hills this week with pastas, steaks, oysters, shareable plates and cocktails.

(Wonho Frank Lee / Ella)

Insomnia Cookies Westwood

West Hollywood’s late-night dessert delivery operation Insomnia Cookies has expanded, opening a new shop in Westwood that serves fresh cookies, brownies, ice cream sandwiches and mini cakes. The outpost is open for walk-ins and delivers to West L.A., Brentwood, Brentwood Glen, Rancho Park and Holmby Hills, in addition to UCLA and the Westwood area. A third L.A. location, near USC, is expected to open later this year. Insomnia Cookies Westwood is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday and Friday, noon to 3 a.m. Saturday and noon to 1 a.m. Sunday.

945 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, (818) 806-7303, insomniacookies.com

Insomnia Cookies just expanded to Westwood, providing late-night cookies, brownies and ice cream sandwiches to UCLA students and beyond.

(Insomnia Cookies)

Starbird

The Bay Area fried chicken concept Starbird has opened its 11th location— its first in the L.A. area. Starbird’s latest offers takeout and delivery of antibiotic-free chicken in the form of tenders, salads, sandwiches, tacos and wings with a variety of sauces; there are gluten-free and “Gardenbird” plant-based options as well.

The Lawndale kitchen delivers to Hawthorne, Torrance, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach; this spring, a delivery and takeout outpost is planned for Koreatown, while dine-in locations are in the works for Hollywood and Marina del Rey in 2022 and 2023. Starbird South Bay is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 10: 30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

16711 Hawthorne Blvd., Lawndale, starbirdchicken.com