Jon Yao of Kato in Los Angeles was named best chef in California on Monday at the James Beard Awards in Chicago, widely recognized as the Oscars of the gastronomic set in the United States, celebrating what the organization deems the nation’s most outstanding culinary talent.

Yao, noted for his contemporary Taiwanese cuisine seen through a California lens, was the evening’s sole Los Angeles winner. Kato also holds one Michelin star.

“At our restaurant, we tell stories of immigrants, diaspora, endurance and perseverance,” he said, in part, during his acceptance speech. “L.A. is a city built by the toil of the immigrant community, and right now those same communities are being ripped apart.”

Yao, a San Gabriel Valley native, went on to ask chefs in the audience to use their voice and platform to speak out, adding, “We all deserve the freedom to pursue our dreams, to determine our own futures and be treated with equal dignity and respect.”

Other Los Angeles County nominees were Tobin Shea of Redbird for outstanding professional in cocktail service, and Arturo Enciso and Ana Salatino’s Gusto Bread in Long Beach for outstanding bakery.

This year, the nonprofit foundation recognized more than 100 restaurants and food makers as finalists across 25 categories. Each winner was presented with a certificate and medallion engraved with the image of James Beard, the lauded American chef, cookbook author, television personality and teacher for whom the awards are named.

In his 2022 review of Kato, Bill Addison of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Layers of interpretation have always been present in Yao’s cooking. If you’re looking to parse the almost clinical dissection of nostalgia, the pride of identity and the redefinitions of luxury in his food, the intellectual fodder is there. If you want simply to savor a beautiful, thoughtful sequence of plates, he can make you feel nourished on many levels.”

This marks the third year in a row the best chef in California accolade went to a Los Angeles name. Kuya Lord chef Lord Maynard Llera nabbed the regional award in 2024, with Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai winning it in 2023.

Yao competed alongside Daniel Castillo of Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano, Tara Monsod of San Diego’s Animae, Richard Lee of Saison in San Francisco and Kosuke Tada of Mijoté in San Francisco.

Jinju Patisserie in Portland, Oregon, won over Gusto Bread in Long Beach, and Ignacio Jimenez of Superbueno in New York upset Tobin Shea of Redbird in downtown L.A.

The full list of James Beard Awards 2025 winners is as follows:

Emerging chef: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia.

Outstanding pastry chef or baker: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, Okla.

Outstanding bakery: Jinju Patisserie, Portland, Ore.

Best new bar: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Outstanding professional in beverage service: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin, Texas.

Outstanding professional in cocktail service: Ignacio Jimenez, Superbueno, New York City.

Outstanding wine and other beverages program: Charleston, Baltimore.

Outstanding bar: Kumiko, Chicago.

Best chef, Mid-Atlantic: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.

Best chef, New York state: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York City.

Best chef, South: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami.

Best chef, Northwest-Pacific: Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, Ore.

Best chef, Northeast: Brian Lewis, The Cottage, Westport, Conn.

Best chef, Midwest: Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, Minn.

Best chef, California: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles.

Best chef, Mountain: Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, Idaho

Best chef, Southwest: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, Ariz.

Best chef, Southeast: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, Tenn.

Best chef, Great Lakes: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago.

Best chef, Texas: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, Texas.

Outstanding hospitality: Atomix, New York City.

Best new restaurant: Böcheron, Minneapolis.

Outstanding restaurateur: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d’Or, and Le Rock, New York City.

Outstanding restaurant: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colo.

Outstanding chef: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York City.

2025 James Beard Foundation lifetime achievement award: Toni Tipton-Martin.

2025 James Beard Foundation humanitarian of the year: Chad Houser

A body of judges in the culinary industry evaluate nominees based on their skills in the kitchen or behind the bar, including behavioral ethics and employee treatment. The James Beard Foundation has presented these awards annually since 1991, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Media awards honoring cookbook authors, journalists and other media professionals were handed out at a ceremony Saturday.