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Austin Hennelly

@afhennelly

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Bar @katorestaurant

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@thehansukcho and I were working on an alcohol free White Negroni with green strawberry and the strawberry component didn’t turn out how we intended. Rather than scrapping it and starting again, we tried to figure out what kind of drink the ingredient wanted to be instead. That lead us to create the best shaken up alcohol free cocktail we’ve ever developed.

Green Strawberry Daiquiri: floreale aperitif, wild flower honey, whey, oro blanco, maqaw, lime taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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2 years ago

Question: Can I make a White Negroni that still feels like a White Negroni but doesn’t taste like soap that’s mad at me?

Answer: Yes! Clarified Mutsu Apple from @seecanyonfruitranch mixed with @iichiko.shochu, @forthave_spirits Four (their limited edition bitter sweet floral liqueur) and @letherbee Besk. Mix that all together and carbonate and you’ve got a spritzy autumnal White Negroni that I’m pretty crazy about.

📸: @colleenobrienphoto by @afhennelly

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2 years ago

2026 SUMMER SUNDAY SERIES COCKTAILS

OUR ⭐️ ⭐️ FROZEN DRINK MACHINE
📷: @colleenobrienphoto taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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a month ago

For almost six years in the west LA location KATO’s beverage program was limited not only due to space restrictions, but also the months of red tape & $100k+ that would be required to obtain a liquor license in our state.
Luckily, after 3 years of searching, we were able to find a new home. With it brought on the opportunity to finally build out the beverage program we had been dreaming about. A place where the same authentic approach, deep passion, attention to detail, career accumulating skills & thoughtfulness to sourcing that was being applied to each dish could be matched by the beverage paired w/ it. Hours & hours of conversation prior to our doors reopening went into conceptualizing a program that at its core was about two key principals - inclusivity & excellence. Completely aware that the first of those words is thrown around loosely & often only as performative action or virtue signally, our beverage team developed a menu where no one at the table feels left out. Putting equally, if not more effort, into our alcohol free program as to our cocktails to guarantee everyone can cheers a special occasion. Aligning w/ our culinary department, behind the bar we source produce from our favorite local farmers, applying techniques that require hours if not days to one simple ingredient, & fill any nook of free time sourcing beautiful vintage glasses to present each drink in.When opportunities arise to develop our own unique offerings, we dove head first in collaborating w/ friends at Cole Ranch to make both our own wine & verjus, partnering w/ iconic Taiwanese Distiller Kavalan to bring over our Vinho Barrique finished whisky & after many years of development, a Taiwanese digestif.
Building a wine list that was balanced between approachable yet so immersive that both those just getting into wine & the most experienced enthusiasts could be inspired by it was a day one goal. A list that includes everything from bottles under $40 to the rarest wines in the world, new natural releases from local winemakers to wines aged for over a 100 years from a Spanish castle & flights that at one moment be incredibly classic to the next something done for the very first time. taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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2 months ago

2026 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER FOR OUTSTANDING WINE AND OTHER BEVERAGE
@katorestaurant taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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2 months ago

Cleverly combining two summer classics—the Piña Colada and the G&T—this refresher features gin, Salers, cream of coconut, pineapple, lime, bitters, tonic, and a touch of salt. Get the recipe from @katorestaurant beverage director Austin Hennelly (@afhennelly) at the link in our bio.🥥🍍🍋‍🟩

📸 @colleenobrienphoto A gin cocktail recipe by @afhennelly

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4 months ago

It was the honor of a lifetime to bring the @beardfoundation award for Outstanding Beverage Program home to @katorestaurant. Thank you to @jonyao and @ryan____bailey for building a restaurant where beverage is treated with the same level of care, attention and resources as food and service.

The entire team at Kato is involved in success of the beverage program but I must say an extra thank you to the bar team @heygooey and Ed Lainez for putting up with me every night.

A special thank you to @goodfight for the incredible Seymour tuxedo jacket.

This is what we’ve built in four short years and we’re just getting started. by @afhennelly

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4 months ago

LUNAR NEW YEARS 2026
@barkumiko x @katorestaurant
📷: @colleenobrienphoto taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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6 months ago

Earthy carrots from @weiserfamilyfarms and floral passion fruit from @rincontropics combine to create the pairing for our yóutiáo - a cruller filled with urchin and brown butter. The clarified juices are steeped with Iron Goddess Oolong tea from Taiwan to add a subtle note of buckwheat and nutty oxidation.

Toasted cacao and black tea add complexity and tannin to dealcoholized Syrah from the South of France in the pairing for our hóngshāo ròu course. Wǔxiāng fěn - a spice blend of cinnamon, star anise, fennel, clove and Sichuan pepper - gives the drink a heady aroma.

For our suān cài yú course, the bar team mixes clarified cucumber and bitter melon from @yaochengfarm in Ventura County that they’ve steeped with bái mǔdān white tea. The cooling cucumber tempers the sharp bite of the bitter melon and the tea brings flavors of honey and golden hay. taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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8 months ago

The first sip of our alcohol free pairing is as playful as it is bracing. A mound of shaved ice in a vintage glass arrives at the table and a bartender pours a mixture of fresh pomegranate from JJ’s Lone Daughter Ranch, verjus rouge, Beijing yogurt and wǔ wèi zǐ - a berry that expresses all five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. The ice collapses on itself, the drink is chilled and your meal is ready to begin.
📷: @colleenobrienphoto taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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8 months ago

The bar @katorestaurant is a special place. I loathe how far away it is from where I live or else I would be there way too often. It’s undeniably a notable piece in what makes Kato the 26th ranked restaurant on @theworlds50best North America list. What @ryan____bailey @afhennelly and team have created here is worth its own long and meditative visit at the bar, on top of a regular dinner visit. One where you’ll inevitably experience some of the most skilled and nuanced cocktail making, warm-yet-expert hospitality, and the bubbling glee that comes when something has been made with so much intention and precision, right in front of your eyes, that it makes you feel genuinely cared for by a stranger. It makes you do the stupid smile. They have such a unique and broad collection of wine and spirits here that it’s impossible to not have a great time. Unrelated, but I was recently told by a friend that Bailey paired their entire dinner with different rare and unique sherry as he said he was a diehard fine. What! I love it. We’re lucky to have this place L.A., so you better take care of it.

On a recent visit, I decided I’m a martini person again because of this Tuxedo. The Botanist Gin, Laurent Cazottes Tomato Brandy, Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth, Barbadillo Solear Manzanilla Sherry, Wood-Fired Taiwanese Soy. Stirred, up. Perfect dilution and temp. Beautifully captured here by @colleenobrienphoto

““I like to make my martinis two to one with a high-proof gin,” he says. “That way you still get plenty of vermouth flavor, but it drinks dry. Two dashes of orange bitters, a few drops of salt water, a cerignola olive in the glass, and a lemon peel expressed over the top and discarded.”- Hennelly for my recent martini-centric piece for @finedininglovers now live.

This is all to say: get thee to Kato’s bar! (and, also, Kato itself) taken in Kato Restaurant by @afhennelly

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a year ago

It is exceptionally difficult to craft cocktails that are complex, delicious, and memorable without alcohol 🍹 Booze provides flavor, body, and the obvious inebriating effect that eases inhibitions and sets the scene for a good night out. It’s an incredible challenge for bartenders to provide delicious NA drinks that are economical for the house, push creativity forward, and provide a high value proposition for the average guest.⁠
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In this month’s edition of “Techniques,” Jack Schramm (@schrammplate) talks to bar director Austin Hennelly (@afhennelly), who decided to meet these challenges head on and set out to build a world-beating non-alcoholic program when opening the current iteration of @katorestaurant in Los Angeles.⁠
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🔗 in bio to read the full piece.⁠
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📸: @shelbymoore.co by @afhennelly

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a year ago