Michelin recognized one Sacramento restaurant this year: A dim sum house in Natomas

No Michelin stars were given out in California this year, but one Sacramento restaurant still got honors.

Yue Huang was one of 25 restaurants statewide listed as an “inspector discovery” at Michelin’s virtual banquet/charity fundraiser in lieu of an awards presentation Tuesday night.

The French tire and tourism company reviewed California restaurants for the second consecutive year, but canceled its statewide guide earlier this month due to wildfires and the coronavirus pandemic.

“The dim sum selection offers an enticing array of steamed, baked and fried delights, including barbecue pork buns, rice noodle rolls and dumplings,” the inspector wrote. “However, diners are bound to also run across a range of more interesting items, like succulent sticky-rice shrimp balls or steamed buns stuffed with crunchy walnuts and sweet red bean paste.”

“Yue” is another word for Cantonese, and the restaurant’s extensive menu includes regional specialties like chow fun and clay pot dishes. The 4-year-old Chinese restaurant at 3860 Truxel Road has a dozen saltwater tanks and sources fresh Dungeness crab from the Bay Area when in season, according to its website.

Prior to the pandemic, Yue Huang was also known for its extravagant banquets. An $888, 10-person feast included bird’s nest soup, roasted squab, suckling pig in foie gras sauce and much more.

Sacramento Bee dining critic Kate Washington fêted Yue Huang in a 2017 review, awarding it three out of four stars.

“Dim sum is almost always best with a crowd, so if you and your brunch squad have been pining for a break from bacon, hit the highway north,” Washington wrote in the review. “Just make sure you set aside the afternoon for lounging in a pleasant post-dumpling haze.”

Michelin also recognized chefs at seven restaurants — five in the Bay Area and one each in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara — as “sustainable role models” awarding them Green Stars, a designation new to the United-States. Most of the selections are led by widely recognized culinary stars such as Thomas Keller, Nancy Silverton and Alice Waters.

Yue Huang is open for indoor and outdoor dining, takeout and in-house delivery service from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and starting at 10:30 a.m. on weekends.

This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Michelin recognized one Sacramento restaurant this year: A dim sum house in Natomas."