A bright light shone on the Bay Area’s culinary stars Wednesday night at the Michelin Guide International’s annual reveal in San Diego, with two restaurants, Californios in San Francisco and Enclos in Sonoma, elevated to the three-star level — the highest Michelin achievement.
That gives California a total of 10 restaurants with that distinction, twice as many as New York City.
The guide also promoted one restaurant, Kato in Los Angeles, to the two-star list and honored nine new restaurants with one-star awards, including Naides in San Francisco, one of the few Filipino cuisine restaurants in the nation with that distinction.
“As one of our legacy destinations in the U.S., California helped set the standard for exceptional dining experiences worth traveling for,” said Gwendal Poullennec, the Michelin Guide’s international director, in a statement before the ceremony. “This year is no different as California continues to be a pace-setter for the industry based on our Inspectors’ brilliant discoveries.”
The eight repeat three-star awardees were Dominique Crenn’s Atelier Crenn, Corey Lee’s Benu and Michael Tusk’s Quince, all in San Francisco; Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, in Yountville; SingleThread in Healdsburg, from chef Kyle Connaughton and farmer Katina Connaughton; Addison, in San Diego; Providence, in Hollywood; and Somni in West Hollywood.
Crenn remains the only female chef in the United States to lead a three-star restaurant, Michelin confirmed.
Two-star Bay Area honorees retaining that award included chef James Syhabout’s Commis in Oakland, which has long been honored at that level, and Acquerello, Birdsong, Lazy Bear and Saison in San Francisco.
In the South Bay/Peninsula, two restaurants retained the one-star status they have held since 2009: The Plumed Horse in Saratoga, with chef Peter Armellino at the helm, and the Village Pub in Woodside, under the direction of chef Mark Sullivan and the Bacchus group.
The other one-star restaurants from this region that were honored again this year include Protégé in Palo Alto from executive chef Anthony Secviar and master sommelier Dennis Kelly; Wakuriya, the contemporary Japanese restaurant in San Mateo from executive chef and owner Katsuhiro Yamasaki; and another Sullivan/Bacchus restaurant, Selby’s dinner house in Atherton.
Besides the stars and the Bib Gourmands (for affordable, high-quality dining), Michelin honored Bay Area industry professionals with special recognition: The Exceptional Cocktails Award went to the bar team at Maria Isabel in San Francisco, and the Outstanding Service Award went to Frida Blomdahl Hay of Sons & Daughters in San Francisco.
Michelin Guide officials say that their protocol requires inspectors — who remain anonymous — to revisit all previous winners and new prospects with five criteria in mind: meal quality; harmony of flavors; mastery of technique; personality of the chef and cuisine; and consistency between each visit.
This is a developing story. Come back for updates.