With much fanfare, including personal calls to chefs awarded a coveted star, the Michelin Guide for the Bay Area and Wine Country announced the launch of its fourth edition Monday. The $17.99 annual guide goes on sale today.
Thirty-nine restaurants were awarded stars for the 2010 guide, up from 32 last year. There were two high-profile demotions from the select list of two-star eateries – Aqua lost both its stars and Michael Mina was demoted to one star.
Michelin is by far the most influential guide in the world. Shifts in its ratings are closely watched – and hotly debated – within the restaurant industry and by dining aficionados.
Falling out of favor with Michelin can be costly. The loss of a star, for instance, is said to translate to a loss of up to 25 percent of a restaurant's business.
The French Laundry won't have to worry. Super chef Thomas Keller's $240-per-person (before the wine) prix fixe restaurant in Yountville remains the only Bay Area/Wine Country establishment to receive the highest rating of three stars. Such a rating means it is considered one of the finest restaurants in the world.
Keller's more casual bistro, Bouchon, also in Yountville, earned one star. His New York restaurant, Ad Hoc, also received three stars.
Chez Panisse, Alice Waters' much-admired restaurant in Berkeley, earned one star, the same as it did in 2009. That rating is also controversial, as some critics consider it to be among the best restaurants in the area and, more so, a longtime leader in the farm-to-table movement that now seems commonplace throughout America.
How did Sacramento fare?
Who? Where? Huh?
The state's capital isn't even on Michelin's radar, at least not yet. The Bay Area guide has expanded its territory, but the "famously anonymous" inspectors who taste and tally throughout the year have yet to make the trip to Sacramento to size up its best restaurants.
It may surprise some readers to learn the Michelin stars are awarded solely for the food – the quality of ingredients and how the food is prepared. As Jean-Luc Naret, the worldwide director of the Michelin Guide, told me Monday, "the personality of the chef on the plate, not on TV or in the books."
Call The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099.
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