The new Michelin Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area for 2014 drops tomorrow, and today chefs around the local area got their phone calls and congratulations from the Michelin folks on their renewed (or newly won) star rankings. We have the full list for you now.
The guide tends not to change dramatically year to year as the inspectors pride themselves on returning time and again to their favorite places and judging them on their consistency year after year, with stars rarely ever earned in a restaurant's first year in business. The big news this year is the promotion of Quince up to the realm of two stars, which indicates a restaurant of very high quality and consistency, and worthy of a detour the original guide, as you may or may not know, was intended to get more French people on the road and wearing out their tires, you see, and the stars were structured as such, with three meaning "worthy of special journey" and one meaning "worthy of a stop along your trip." Both the French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood, which have been the only three-star winners in our area for the past several years, retain their three-star status. All the existing two-star restaurants, as shown below, remain in place from last year.
See the list below, much of which was leaked via Twitter earlier today. (The Michelin folks decided to get ahead of Twitter rumors as their phone calls went out this year, following on a certain debacle involving some misinformed tweeting about Manresa a couple years back.) Here's last year's list for reference, and the new list of Bib Gourmand spots which arrived last week basically the ones that are good, a little cheaper, and not quite up to one-star standards. Tonight, all the chefs and restaurants will be feted at a private party at the Bentley Reserve.
State Bird Provisions, as if they need any further reason for the eating public to be beating a path to their door, earns their first Michelin star this year. Congrats to them as the only new recipient in town.
Alas, we shed a small tear for Frances, which lost its Michelin star this year after holding one for two years straight; also Redd in Yountville, La Costanera in Montara, and Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino all lost their stars. And for the third year running, Chez Panisse has yet to return to the one-star ranks, where it once was.
3 stars:
The French Laundry, Yountville
The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena
2 stars:
Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
Baume, Palo Alto
Benu, San Francisco
Coi, San Francisco
Manresa, Los Gatos
Quince, San Francisco
Saison, San Francisco
1 star:
Acquerello, San Francisco
All Spice, San Mateo
Ame, San Francisco
Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford
Aziza, San Francisco
Bouchon, Yountville
Boulevard, San Francisco
Campton Place, San Francisco
Chez TJ, Mountain View
Commis, Oakland
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Forestville
Gary Danko, San Francisco
Keiko a Nob Hill, San Francisco
La Folie, San Francisco
La Toque, Napa
Luce, San Francisco
Madera, Menlo Park
Madrona Manor, Healdsburg
Michael Mina, San Francisco
Plumed Horse, Saratoga
Solbar, Calistoga
Sons & Daughters, San Francisco
SPQR, San Francisco
Spruce, San Francisco
State Bird Provisions, San Francisco*
Terra, St. Helena
Terrapin Creek, Bodega Bay
The Village Pub, Woodside
Wakuriya, San Mateo
* new to the list
