Michelin just canceled its 2020 California guide. Sacramento’s top chefs aren’t upset

Michelin read the room; customers weren’t allowed in it.

The French tire company won’t publish a California dining guide this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires, according to a news release Tuesday. That means no California restaurants will receive Michelin stars or lesser designations Bib Gourmands and Plates.

Michelin’s first statewide guide last year included 14 Sacramento restaurants, and the 2020 guide was originally scheduled to publish this spring. Even two months ago, a company spokesperson told The San Francisco Chronicle that stars would be awarded this year based on pre-pandemic dining.

Instead, Michelin will host a virtual “family meal” Oct. 27 with appearances from multi-star California chefs such as Thomas Keller of Yountville’s The French Laundry, Dominique Crenn of San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn, and Niki Nakayama of Los Angeles’ n/naka. More than 20 “inspector discoveries” throughout the state will be highlighted during the event, which will feature cooking demonstrations and raise money for the California Association of Food Banks.

Sacramento’s lone restaurant to receive a star last year, The Kitchen, will reopen Wednesday after being shut down for all but one week since March.

Reservations are already fully booked through the end of the year at 25% capacity, executive chef Kelly McCown said. The Kitchen’s Michelin star put it on people’s radar outside the Sacramento region, but the Arden Arcade restaurant has all the customers it can handle during the pandemic without the additional accolades.

“It would be nice to have it, but I think the support of the community and being able to get our employees back to work feels like a much bigger accomplishment this year than awards,” McCown said.

The Kitchen is unlike any other restaurant, though, and many included in last year’s guide could use a boost. Though Frank Fat’s won a Bib Gourmand (good quality and good value) in 2019, its revenue is down 60-70% this year as downtown employees work from home and entertainment venues remain closed, Fat Family Restaurant Group CEO Kevin Fat told The Sacramento Bee last month.

Another Bib Gourmand winner, Canon, was generating more revenue than normal in January and February because of its inclusion in the guide, chef/co-owner Brad Cecchi said. The pandemic put an end to that. Yet Cecchi said canning this year’s guide was the right decision.

“It’s definitely valid. There’s a lot going on in the world. and especially with the fires in Napa Valley, I think it’s probably good that they postpone a lot of this stuff,” said Cecchi, who was the executive chef at Michelin-starred Calistoga restaurant Solbar before opening Canon.

As California restaurateurs have grappled with economic losses from the pandemic and wildfires as well as social movements in the streets and their own kitchens, some have questioned the value of feting fine dining in this particular moment.

The 2020 James Beard Awards were canceled a few days after David Kinch, the owner/chef of three-star Manresa in Los Gatos, said the timing wasn’t right for such a celebration and withdrew from consideration.

Other chefs withdrew after allegations ranging from bullying to sexual harassment, and The New York Times later reported the James Beard Foundation selected no Black winners among its 2020 honorees. A Twitter live video “gala” focused on the foundation’s pledge to do better in following years.

It felt bitterly symbolic of a long year when the Glass Fire burned the three-star Restaurant at Meadowood to the ground last month, said McCown, who was chef de cuisine at one-star Martini House in St. Helena in the mid-2000s.

“I think the overall sentiment is that there’s a lot going on and probably some more important issues (than Michelin stars) that we should address right now, one being that we should make sure all people in this industry are able to make a living and provide for their families,” McCown said. “I feel like (canceling the guide) is very sensitive to what’s going on right now.”