Bao Hiroo

Bao Hiroo Restaurant Review:

Tokyo-born chef Hiroo Nagahara (Charlie Trotter, Guy Savoy) has opened Bao Hiroo in downtown L.A.’s Arts District. Based on his mother’s recipes for stuffed bao, chef Nagahara offers haute sweet, savory, steamed, baked and fried bao, including Beef Brisket steamed bao (stuffed with coffee bbq, Fuji apple and fennel kimchi); the crispy Japanese Curry bao (filled with fried tofu, fingerling potatoes and seasonal vegetables, coated in panko and fried); and the baked Pork Belly “Croque Monsieur” bao (layers of Swiss and Fontina cheese, pickled mustard and a miso glaze wrapped in Hiroo’s house-made milk bread). The fast-casual format also offers a selection of house-batched and bottled cocktails.