Katsuya Ko

Peach, dark pink and burgundy fill the dining room at Katsuya Ko, 3,000 square feet at Westfield UTC in La Jolla, built around an open kitchen where cooks work the robata grill in view of the tables. Chef Katsuya Uechi, who introduced spicy tuna crispy rice to the world from his original Studio City restaurant nearly three decades ago, built this spinoff as a looser, more approachable version of that original elegance, its menu split between robata plates and a sushi bar doing sashimi, makis and citrus-forward rolls. About 80 seats sit inside and another 32 fill the patio.