These Bay Area Restaurants Could Earn Their First Michelin Stars Next Month

Bay Area chefs and fine dining lovers, mark your calendars: the California Michelin Guide ceremony is going down on Tuesday, July 18 at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland. Sorry fans, it’s an invite-only event — but a potentially monumental one during which chefs and restaurants will “learn in real-time whether their establishments have received culinary distinctions such as Michelin Stars, Bib Gourmands, or other professional award distinctions,” per the Michelin Guide website.

For those who need a refresher on how the Michelin Guide rollout works at this point, here’s what to know. Throughout the year, the Michelin Guide announces new additions to the California section of the guide. This year, announcements came in March, May, and June. For now, these restaurants do not hold specific designations but are marked as “new” in the online guide.

It isn’t until the annual fête, which was last held in December 2o22, that these restaurants and chefs find out if they’ll be awarded any coveted Stars or will be named Bib Gourmands, which recognize restaurants that offer the “best value for money,” per the Michelin website. Restaurants could also receive less common distinctions (think Green Stars, which recognize restaurants “at the forefront of the industry when it comes to their sustainable practices”) or no distinction at all aside from being included in the guide.

Additionally, restaurants that already hold Michelin stars will be keeping their eyes out for invites to the party, which indicates they haven’t lost their star status for the year. At the event, these chefs and restaurants will find out if they retained their current star status; lost a star (but still hold at least one); or earned a new star.

Which is all to say, it’ll be a big night for the Bay Area restaurant and chef community, particularly considering the region getting shutout at the James Beard Awards and the less-than-enthusiastic chatter about the city’s dining scene generally. Historically, San Francisco and the Bay Area shines with an exceptionally high number of Michelin-starred restaurants – 89 in total as of last year’s announcement in December – so it’s a sure thing many eyes will be on the Guide and the work of its anonymous inspectors next month.

Here are the San Francisco Bay Area restaurants that have been added to the California Michelin Guide so far this year:

Added March 2023

• Bansang

Added May 2023

• Auro
• Bombera
• Lion Dance Cafe
• Parche
• Pomet
• Snail Bar
• Breakwater Barbecue
• Kajiken
• Anomaly SF
• Aphotic
• Copra
• Friends Only
• HK Lounge Bistro
• LeYou
• Noodle in a Haystack
• Petiscos
• Prik Hom
• Rosemary & Pine
• Suragan