Japanese lounge restaurant Katsuya opened on July 25 in the former Century City Rock Sugar with a wide menu of sushi, sashimi, hot appetizers like rock shrimp tempura, and larger mains like miso black cod. The years-long build-out that was first announced in 2022 includes the newly opened Casa Dani, which was awarded a Michelin star in New York City, from lauded Spanish chef Dani Garcia.
Okinawa-born chef Katsuya Uechi opened the first Katsuya in Studio City in 1997, in Studio City, joining the long history of California Japanese restaurants that serve the San Fernando Valley. He expanded to Brentwood with SBE in 2006, eventually growing to six other locations around the world, including Toronto, Miami, and the Bahamas. Katsuya also opened in Hollywood and L.A. Live (it also operated an outlet in Glendale, but it has since closed). Uechi runs a more independent collection of Japanese restaurants that include the Izakaya by Katsu-ya and Kiwami, but the Century City restaurant will fall under the SBE partnership that leans more into the sleek, high-design Nobu-esque category.
High ceilings, a striking Japanese-inflected design, and a sprawling patio overlooking Santa Monica Boulevard define most of the tactile experience of the new Katsuya. A moody bar area lit like Japanese shoji windows leads up to charcoal-covered lamps looming over the dining room like the giant eyes of local spirits. Sleek wood beams intersect and break up the negative space while greenery shrouds the eye-level glass looking out to the patio. A stainless steel-backed sushi bar puts the chefs front and center for the dining room to behold, with dark speckled tables and pitch-black chairs spread over the floor. A more sunlit side lounge offers a good waiting area or happy hour hangout for office workers.
The food is predictable and elegant, featuring Katsuya’s most famous invention, crispy tuna rice. Slim slices of tuna tataki, salmon sashimi with soy citrus vinaigrette, and yellowtail jalapeño derived from the Matsuhisa playbook are good starters. Specialty rolls like the Century feature king crab, avocado, and wagyu sashimi topped with caviar and fresh truffle. Prices are expectedly to be on the higher end, with some rolls sitting at $59, but are probably within the expense account range of the high-end law firms and talent agencies in the restaurant’s proximity — indulge if someone else is paying. Katsuya, like its Japanese lounge counterparts, isn’t here to challenge diners with complexity. It’s a slick place to catch a light-ish dinner with friends, co-workers, or clients in the comfy and curated confines of Century City, and is sure to be a hit in a neighborhood where a $59 sushi roll doesn’t feel out of place.
Katsuya is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. It’s located at 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 1799, Los Angeles, CA, 90067.
Dining and Cooking