These 7 new Michelin-star restaurants are driving distance from Sacramento and ‘worth a stop’

The world of tasting menus, edible flowers and quality ingredients recently accepted several California restaurants, many of which are just a short distance from Sacramento.

The 2022 Michelin Guide California includes 18 newly awarded Michelin star restaurants including one in our own backyard and nine within a two-hour drive from the state capital. Frequent travelers to the Bay Area — you’re in luck.

Michelin rated 89 restaurants total — including those that previously earned the star — on a one to three star scale. It also gives accolades for sustainability leaders and “bib gourmands,” for restaurants that serve good food at an moderate price.

The new eateries on the list within a roughly 2-hour driving distance of Sacramento only include one-star ratings and bib gourmands.

New Michelin Star restaurants near Sacramento

ONE-STAR RATINGS

The following restaurants received a one-star rating, meaning the food is high quality and is “worth a stop.” Here’s the list, according to the guide, along with blurbs from Michelin food critics.

• LOCALIS | 2031 S St., Sacramento, 95811

Localis, the only Sacramento restaurant added to the list this year, serves various tasting menus created with local ingredients. A new menu drops Wednesday.

The cooking has a clean, modern simplicity, and its commitment to carefully sourced ingredients is thoroughly Californian.

• CYRUS | 275 CA-128, Geyserville, 95441

Cyrus is about a two-hour drive from Sacramento. The restaurant serves dishes like lobster, charred radish and tamarind glazed carrot.

Dinner is an ebullient experience that progresses from canapes and champagne in the lounge, to small bites in the kitchen, and concludes with substantial compositions in the dining room.

• NISEI | 2316 Polk St., San Francisco, 94109

Nisei is about an hour and 50 minute-drive from Sacramento. The restaurant’s tasting menu is inspired from home-cooked food from Japan with balances of color and taste.

The kitchen employs both boldness and subtlety in their cooking, which abounds with personality and technical finesse.

• OSITO | 2875 18th St., San Francisco, 94110

Osito is between an hour to 2-hour drive from Sacramento. Those who visit the restaurant should expect a high-energy experience with a communal feel.

The food is both elemental and elevated, with a subtle perfume of smoke wending through the various courses, seen in dishes like a lightly cooked king salmon with fennel and porcini, or a slow-cooked brisket brushed tableside with an intensely savory mussel BBQ sauce.

• PRESS | 587 St. Helena St., St. Helena, 94574

Press is an hour and 20-minute drive from Sacramento. Those who visit should expect a Napa Valley dining experience with dishes like citrus-cured yellowtail belly, beef fat potato and dry-aged tartare.

This modern American dining room exudes all the wine country vibes, and just so happens to boast the largest collection of Napa wines in the world.

• SAN HO WON | 2170 Bryant St., San Francisco, 94110

San Ho Won is between an hour to two-hour drive from Sacramento. The restaurant serves dishes like grilled beef dumplings, pear water kimchi and jellyfish.

The kitchen’s assiduously refined technique deftly combines traditional Korean tastes with a sense of novelty, using impeccable ingredients to make for dishes of surpassing depth and purity of flavor, whether it be the humble kimchi or a rarefied cut of beef.

• SSAL | 2226 Polk St., San Francisco, 94109

Ssal is between an hour to two-hour drive from Sacramento. The restaurant received a one-star rating for its Korean-inspired menu with every changing dishes all with a view of their open kitchen.

Meticulously prepared seafood shows a dedication to craft, as in black cod partially dried before being grilled to achieve a skin so crunchy it can be heard from across the room.

New Bib Gourmand restaurants near Sacramento

The following restaurants received a bib gourmand rating, meaning the food is good at a moderate price. Here’s the list:

• GOOD GOOD CULTURE CLUB | 3560 18th St., San Francisco, 94110

Good Good Culture is between an hour to two-hour drive from Sacramento. The restaurant serves a mix of savory and sweet dishes like poppy seed steam bun, asparagus mango salad and strawberry crunch cake.

• HILDA AND JESSE | 701 Union St., San Francisco, 94133

Hilda and Jesse is about a two-hour drive from Sacramento. The restaurant serves steak and eggs, fried duck wings and apple fritter.

• JO’S MODERN THAI | 3725 MaCarthur Blvd., Oakland, 94619

Jo’s Modern Thai is an hour and a half-drive from Sacramento. The restaurant mixes Thai and California ingredients to create tropical dishes like lobster pad thai, coconut pancake and crispy catfish salad.

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 11:05 AM.