San Francisco’s Restaurants Still Outclass New York
The Bay Area dominates the Michelin three-star category. Let the cross-continent sniping begin.
Source: Atelier Crenn
San Francisco has been fighting to be the top fine dining city in the country. And it keeps winning.
On Thursday, Michelin put its weight behind the West Coast again. The storied guide awarded three stars to eight restaurants; two were upgraded, including Single Thread, the exquisite farm-focused, Asian-accented restaurant and inn from chef Kyle Connaughton, which is barely two years old. That’s an almost unheard of accolade for such a youngster—Michelin usually takes years to upgrade, or downgrade, any venue. Atelier Crenn, from the visionary chef Dominique Crenn, also emerged thrice victorious.
For anyone keeping track of the San Francisco vs. New York restaurant battle, the Big Apple is falling further behind. New York has just five Michelin three-star dining rooms. That trend accelerated last year, when New York lost a three-star restaurant, Jean Georges, and San Francisco gained one, Coi, the time-honored modernist spot in North Beach. One reason San Francisco has such momentum is the relative freshness of their top places: In 2007, San Francisco had just one Michelin three-star restaurant, the French Laundry. Few of the other destinations were even open yet. By contrast New York’s youngest three-star, Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, opened in 2009.