Kerstin Kühn: California welcomes new three star restaurant

In her latest feature, LA-based food writer Kerstin Kühn looks in more detail at the 2016 Michelin Guide for Northern California.  

California earlier this month welcomed one new three-star, and two new two-star restaurants, as the 2016 Michelin guide to San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country was released.

Michelin made the official announcement at a gala event in San Francisco, which saw industry heavyweights, including Thomas Keller (The French Laundry), Christopher Kostow (Restaurant at Meadowood), Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn) and Michael Judge (Saison), gather to celebrate the guide’s new additions.

David Kinch’s Manresa in Los Gatos in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 60 miles south of San Francisco, joined the French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, as well as Benu and Saison in San Francisco, in California’s three-star echelon.

Manresa reopened at the beginning of this year following a six-month closure after a devastating fire destroyed much of the restaurant. At the time of the reopening Kinch said that one of the silver linings of the disaster had been that it had given him and his team the opportunity to be introspective and revisit and re-evaluate things. Following the reopening Manresa appointed former three-star Grace and Saison sous chef Mitch Lienhard as chef de cuisine and tweaked “a lot of little things” to become more efficient.

>>>See Kerstin's interview with David here

And it paid off. Speaking to me exclusively for this article, Michelin’s head inspector for the US said: “It's difficult to identify one specific improvement [at Manresa] as rather it was a matter of all the pieces of a very intricate puzzle coming together. Chef Kinch has always been brilliant, but the creativity wasn't always as solidly impressive as we have noticed of late. The meals experienced over the past year were the most consistent display of excellence thus far and there is no question this team has continued its upward trajectory after many years of focused creative evolution.”

Michelin also promoted two restaurants to two stars this year. They were Campton Place at the Taj Hotel in San Francisco’s Financial District, where chef Srijith Gopinathan serves a menu of Indian and South Asian influences, which “over-deliver on taste and flavour”; and Commis, the first two-star restaurant in Oakland, where James Syhabout delivers “elegant and creatively complex seasonal dishes”. California now has a total of seven two-star restaurants.

Fifteen restaurants celebrated winning their first Michelin star, including Mourad Lahlou’s eponymous Moroccan eatery Mourad, Melissa Perello’s Octavia, former pop-up The Lazy Bear and Kin Khao, a Thai Bib Gourmand that went up one star. Other newcomers include All-Spice, Al’s Place, Aster, Californios, Commonwealth, Lord Stanley, Nico, Omakase, Rasa, Sushi Yoshizumi and Wako.

Commenting on Northern California’s dining scene, Michelin’s US head inspector said it is “quite different from New York or Chicago, and substantially different from Southern California”, including Los Angeles. “Northern California has a very distinctive culinary expression that is of course very product-driven, which is notable in that it is reflected across all cuisine types. In addition the respect for product is so intense and intrinsic to the cooking in Northern California that the level of respect and appreciation comes through in an entirely unique style.”

The full list of Michelin stars in San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country:

Three stars:

Benu, San Francisco

The French Laundry, Wine Country

Manresa, South Bay

The Restaurant at Meadowood, Wine Country

Saison, San Francisco

Two stars:

Acquerello, San Francisco

Atelier Crenn, San Francisco

Baumé, South Bay

Campton Place, San Francisco

Coi, San Francisco

Commis, East Bay

Quince, San Francisco

One star:

All Spice, San Francisco

Al’s Place, San Francisco

Ame, San Francisco

Aster, San Francisco

Auberge du Soleil, Wine Country

Aziza, San Francisco

Bouchon, Wine Country

Californios, San Francisco

Chez TJ, South Bay

Commonwealth, San Francisco

Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Wine Country

Gary Danko, San Francisco

Keiko à Nob Hill, San Francisco

Kin Khao, San Francisco

Kusakabe, San Francisco

La Toque, Wine Country

Lazy Bear, San Francisco

Lord Stanley, San Francisco

Luce, San Francisco

Madrona Manor, Wine Country

Michael Mina, San Francisco

Mourad, San Francisco

Nico, San Francisco

Octavia, San Francisco

Omakase, San Francisco

Plumed Horse, South Bay

Rasa, Peninsula

Solbar Wine, Napa Valley

Sons & Daughters, San Francisco

SPQR, San Francisco

Spruce, San Francisco

State Bird Provisions, San Francisco

Sushi Yoshizumi, Peninsula

Terra, Wine Country

Terrapin Creek, Wine Country

The Village Pub, Peninsula

Wako, San Francisco

Wakuriya, Peninsula

Kerstin Kühn is a freelance food and travel writer, specialising in restaurant and chef stories. The former restaurant editor of Caterer and Hotelkeeper, she relocated from London to Los Angeles in 2013, where she lives on the city’s trendy East Side.

With a vast network of chefs from around the world, Kerstin has profiled the likes of Michel Roux, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, the Roca brothers and Massimo Bottura. She is a regular contributor to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, FOUR Magazine, M&C Report and Spinney’s Food, and also writes her own blog, La Goulue. You can follow Kerstin on Twitter @LaGoulue_

>>>Read more of Kerstin's blogs here.