Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2012 Edition)

It's time for my annual rant on San Jose not having any Michelin star restaurants. The Michelin Guide is likely the most prestigious handbook for top restaurants in the world. In the US, they only publish the guide for 3 regions: New York, The Bay Area, and Chicago. The good news is that for 2012 we now have 47 restaurants in the Bay Area with at least one Michelin star. The bad news is none of them are in San Jose (even Oakland has one).

I do think it's only a matter of time before we get a Michel-rated restaurant. In fact, I'm really surprised Le Papillon and La Foret did not make the cut yet. I've been to a quarter of Michelin restaurants in the bay, and both of these are better than many of them. Heck, I'll even call out one restaurant--Village Pub--for really not deserving to be on the list below at all.

As for the South Bay as a whole, we have the same 6 restaurants as last year (highlighted below). Thankfully we didn't lose any, and Baume in Palo Alto was upgraded from a single star to a coveted two star designation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year we'll at minimum increase the South Bay's representation in the guide with a few more restaurants, and hopefully one of those will be in San Jose. I'll also add that it would be pretty slick to see a Mexican, Vietnamese, or Indian restaurant achieve this status in the South Bay. This would really stand out as something unique not only in the Bay Area, but also internationally (very few non-French ethnic restaurants get stars, Dio Deka is our South Bay exception).




Three Stars
Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena
French Laundry, Yountville

Two Stars
Baume, South Bay*
Benu, San Francisco
Coi, San Francisco
Cyrus, Healdsburg
Manresa, South Bay*
Saison, San Francisco*

One Star
Acquerello, San Francisco
Alexander’s Steakhouse, South Bay*
Ame, San Francisco*
Applewood, Guerneville
Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
Auberge du Soleil, St. Helena
Aziza, San Francisco
Bouchon, Yountville
Boulevard, San Francisco
Campton Place, San Francisco
Chez TJ, South Bay*
Commis, East Bay
Dio Deka, South Bay*
Etoile, Yountville*
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Forestville
Fleur de Lys, San Francisco
Frances, San Francisco
Gary Danko, San Francisco*
La Costanera, Peninsula
La Folie, San Francisco
La Toque, Napa
Luce, San Francisco*
Madera, Peninsula*
Madrona Manor, Healdsburg
Masa’s, San Francisco
Michael Mina, San Francisco
One Market, San Francisco
Plumed Horse, South Bay*
Quince, San Francisco
Redd, Yountville
Sante, Sonoma
Solbar, Calistoga
Sons & Daughters, San Francisco
Spruce, San Francisco
Terra, St. Helena
Terrapin Creek, Bodega Bay
Ubuntu, Napa
Village Pub, Peninsula*
Wakuriya, Peninsula

* Restaurants Josh has been to

2011 Michelin Restaurant Ratings

The Michelin Guide is one of the most renowned dining guides in the world. A restaurant getting a Michelin star is the equivalent to an athlete getting a medal in the Olympics. Last year I ranted about San Jose not claiming a single Michelin star restaurant, and it looks like this year the situation has not changed. At least in the 2011 Michelin Guide, they are recognizing that the South Bay is indeed an "Area" as last year they listed Silicon Valley restaurants as "South of San Francisco." You can see the full list below of the 44 Michelin Star recipients (6 of which are in Silicon Valley).

Instead of ranting this year I'll offer an idea and some encouragement. First up, the idea. Michelin star restaurants are huge draws for people. They usually book weeks if not months in advance and are a source of pride and international recognition for the neighborhoods they are in. Why not provide a monetary incentive for restaurants that receive a Michelin star that are located in San Jose (much the same way the USOC provides a monetary incentive for Olympic medalists)? This would encourage pioneering restaurateurs to open up shop in San Jose as well as drive existing restaurants to push their innovation and creativity in order to achieve the highest level of acclaim in their field.

Okay now for some encouragement. There are at least two restaurants in San Jose that are run by chefs that have already earned a Michelin star. This is at least a step in the right direction from last year. The first is Salvatore Calisi who was former head chef of Dio Deka and is now responsible for Ristorante Fratello on Meridian Ave. The second is Michael Miller, who was head chef at Traverse (closed because of dramatic rent hikes), and is now the executive chef at the Silicon Valley Capital Club downtown.

San Jose has achieved so much in the past few decades and already has a knack for innovation and a vibrant restaurant scene. Being known for cutting edge restaurants and have the stars to back that up as a fact (such as Napa does now), well... you can add that to my wishlist for San Jose in 2020.

Every restaurant listed in the MICHELIN Guide is recommended by our team of professional inspectors. The ones listed below have earned stars that reflect their exceptional culinary achievements, regardless of cuisine style. Stars represent only what is on the plate. They do not take into consideration interior decoration, service quality or table settings.

Read the release

Use the links below to make reservations at your favorite San Francisco restaurant, compliments of OpenTable.com.

	Restaurants	Area	Neighborhood	Reservations
Acquerello		San Francisco	Nob Hill	Reserve a table
Alexander's Steakhouse (New)*		South Bay	Cupertino	Reserve a table
Ame*		San Francisco	SoMa	Reserve a table
Applewood (New)		Wine Country	Sonoma County	Reserve a table
Auberge du Soleil		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Aziza		San Francisco	Richmond & Sunset	Reserve a table
Baumé (New)*		South Bay	Palo Alto	Reserve a table
Bouchon		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Boulevard		San Francisco	SoMa	Reserve a table
Campton Place (New)		San Francisco	Financial District	Reserve a table
Chez TJ*		South Bay	Mountain View	Reserve a table
Commis		East Bay	Oakland	Reserve a table
Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, The*		San Francisco	Nob Hill	Reserve a table
Dio Deka (New)		South Bay	Los Gatos	Reserve a table
étoile		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant		Wine Country	Sonoma County	Reserve a table
Fleur de Lys		San Francisco	Financial District	Reserve a table
Frances (New)		San Francisco	Castro	Reserve a table
Gary Danko*		San Francisco	North Beach
La Folie		San Francisco	Nob Hill	Reserve a table
La Toque		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Luce*		San Francisco	SoMa	Reserve a table
Madera (New)*		Peninsula	Menlo Park	Reserve a table
Madrona Manor		Wine Country	Sonoma County	Reserve a table
Masa's		San Francisco	Nob Hill	Reserve a table
Mirepoix (New)		Wine Country	Sonoma County
Murray Circle		Marin	Sausalito	Reserve a table
One Market		San Francisco	SoMa	Reserve a table
Plumed Horse*		South Bay	Saratoga	Reserve a table
Quince		San Francisco	North Beach	Reserve a table
Redd		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Saison (New)*		San Francisco	Mission	Reserve a table
Santé		Wine Country	Sonoma County	Reserve a table
Solbar		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Spruce (New)		San Francisco	Marina	Reserve a table
Terra		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Ubuntu		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Village Pub, The*		Peninsula	Woodside	Reserve a table
Wakuriya (New)		Peninsula	San Mateo

	Restaurants	City	Neighborhood	Reservations
Coi		San Francisco	North Beach	Reserve a table
Cyrus		Wine Country	Sonoma County	Reserve a table
Manresa*		South Bay	Los Gatos	Reserve a table

	Restaurants	City	Neighborhood	Reservations
French Laundry, The		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table
Restaurant at Meadowood, The (New)		Wine Country	Napa Valley	Reserve a table

* Restaurants Josh has been to

2010 Michelin Restaurant Ratings

The latest Michelin ratings for Bay Area have just been released and 39 restaurants have been recognized in our neighborhood. Receiving a Michelin star is one of, if not the highest honor a fine dining restaurant can receive. There are 3 different categories:

One Star - A very good restaurant in its category
Two Stars - Excellent cuisine, worth a detour
Three Stars - Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

The same rubric is used all around the world, so a Two Star restaurant in the Bay Area would be the equivalent to a Two Star restaurant in France, London, or New York. As you glance through the full list of restaurants below, you may notice that NONE of them are in San Jose. So my question to you is, how the heck does a city of one million people not have a single Michelin rated restaurant? I know it's not because we don't love food. Did the Michelin committee just ignore San Jose entirely, or do we truly not have a single restaurant that deserves a star? If the latter is the case, I'm pretty sure I can think of a restaurant or two that deserves to be on the list below...

Three stars

The French Laundry, Yountville

Two stars

Coi, San Francisco
Cyrus, Healdsburg
Manresa, Los Gatos*
The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena

One star

Acquerello, San Francisco
Ame, San Francisco*
Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford
Aziza, San Francisco (new)
Bouchon, Yountville
Boulevard, San Francisco
Chez Panisse, Berkeley
Chez TJ, Mountain View
Commis, Oakland (new)
The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco*
El Paseo, Mill Valley (new; now closed)
Etoile, Yountville (new)
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Forestville
Fifth Floor, San Francisco
Fleur de Lys, San Francisco
Gary Danko, San Francisco*
La Folie, San Francisco
La Toque, Napa (new)
Luce, San Francisco (new)*
Madrona Manor, Healdsburg
Masa's, San Francisco
Michael Mina, San Francisco (two stars last year)
Murray Circle, Sausalito
One Market, San Francisco
Plumed Horse, Saratoga*
Quince, San Francisco (new)
Range, San Francisco
Redd, Yountville
Sante, Sonoma (new)
Solbar, Calistoga (new)
Terra, St. Helena
Trevese, Los Gatos (now closed)
Ubuntu, Napa (new)
The Village Pub, Woodside*

* Restaurants I've been to