California’s Michelin stars ignore Sacramento yet again. Here’s who was honored instead
California’s 2024 Michelin Guide was released Monday night. Yet in the eyes of the Michelin Man, Sacramento’s dining scene is the same as it was in 2022.
No Sacramento-area restaurants received new Michelin stars or other awards for the second consecutive year at Monday night’s unveiling in Half Moon Bay.
None lost accolades, either. The Kitchen and Localis each retained their single Michelin stars in Land Park and midtown Sacramento, respectively. Canon (East Sacramento), Frank Fat’s (downtown), Yue Huang (North Natomas) and Nixtaco (Roseville) all held on to Bib Gourmands, designating them as exceptional restaurants on a budget.
Even Sacramento’s nine Michelin Selections, nods to good-not-great restaurants formerly known as “Plates”, remained unchanged from 2022-2024. Which begs the question, for the second consecutive year: did Michelin’s inspectors even come to the capital region?
Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine chef/owner Billy Ngo was named one of California’s five best chefs in this year’s James Beard Awards, and Binchoyaki’s Craig Takehara reached the Top 20 in 2023. Allora hired a new chef de cuisine, former Hawks Public House boss Derek Sawyer, and converted to an exclusively prix-fixe model.
Vegetarian restaurant Mother, a Bib Gourmand winner in downtown Sacramento prior to its closure in 2020, reopened with an expanded midtown kitchen in September but received no awards in the 2024 guide.
Three Golden State restaurants — Sons & Daughters in San Francisco, Vespertine in Culver City and Aubergine in Carmel-by-the-Sea — received their second Michelin stars on Monday night. Seven restaurants got their first stars, all in San Francisco, Los Angeles or Laguna Beach.
California now has 85 Michelin-starred restaurants in total, down from 87 in 2023. Ten additional restaurants around the state earned their first Bib Gourmands in 2024, eight of them in Los Angeles County, bringing the statewide total to 132.
This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 7:17 AM.