BERKELEY, Calif.-
A wine country restaurant in Napa Valley was the only eatery to get three stars from the first Michelin guide to restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area.
The French Laundry restaurant run by chef Thomas Keller in Yountville got the coveted three-star review. A total of 356 restaurants made it into the guide, but only four got two stars, while 23 got one star.
Keller’s Per Se restaurant in New York received three stars when Michelin put out its first New York edition last fall. A third Keller restaurant, Bouchon, also in Yountville, was honored in the new guide as well, getting one star.
Michelin began as a tire company. Its first guide, published in 1900, gave drivers information on where to service cars, stay and eat. Since then, the guide has grown to cover more than 20 countries and is a gastronomical authority for European connoisseurs.
Three stars mean “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey,” two indicate “excellent cooking, worth a detour” and one signals “a very good restaurant in its category.” But even with no stars, just to be included in the guide is considered an honor.
Yet some had expected higher ratings for an area known as a foodie magnet.
“I was surprised that there weren’t some other restaurants with the top rating,” said Paul Franson, a wine country writer and author of the weekly Napa Life newsletter.
Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guide, said five inspectors working incognito visited about 1,000 restaurants, including follow-ups, for almost a year.
Among the restaurants receiving one star was Chez Panisse, the celebrated Berkeley restaurant that revolutionized the American restaurant scene with its emphasis on fresh, locally produced ingredients.
But owner Alice Waters wasn’t disappointed. “I know the criteria for having a three-star place and, you know, that’s just never been my intention to have a kind of fancy place in that way,” she said.
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