Harrison Barnes is celebrated for his basketball accomplishments, including his role in the Golden State Warriors’ 2015 NBA Finals win and Team USA’s 2016 Olympic Gold Medal.
His earliest NBA home base was the San Francisco Bay Area, where he expanded his palate at some of the top restaurants in the world. As he traveled from city to city for games, he soon discovered a genuine passion for trying new restaurants.
After playing for the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings, Barnes is now the starting power forward for the San Antonio Spurs. He was excited for the first-ever MICHELIN Guide in Texas, which includes several of his personal favorites.
Along his dining journey, he has made it a point to visit MICHELIN-Starred restaurants in each NBA city, befriending some of the nation’s leading chefs, and posting his food adventures online.
Below, learn more about Harrison Barnes's passion for fine dining and culinary MVPs.
How did you first get interested in dining out?
What's funny is, when we travel for all these NBA teams, I have these teammates from all around the world. My rookie years, Andrew Bogut always loved good food. David Lee and Andre Iguodala would go to different restaurants all the time.As I got older, I wanted to expand my palate. The Bay Area was great for that early on. One of my best friends was a food connoisseur, so he definitely helped me understand what it meant to experience good food. I don’t mean necessarily the fanciest food, but just food that was made with care, made with love, that was unique, and helped me just grow in that capacity.
Tell us about some of your most memorable MICHELIN dining experiences.
SingleThread in Healdsburg. Start to finish, they did a phenomenal job with the presentation, quality of food, service, and education. They did a really good job of talking through that whole experience.I was happy that Meteora got a MICHELIN Star. For them and Vespertine, Jordan Kahn does a fantastic job with the food, the creativity, and the presentation. His other restaurant, Destroyer, is one of my favorite breakfast spots in LA. Absolutely love that spot.
Josiah Citrin is another good friend of mine. I love Mélisse, it has a great vibe. They have these beautiful Damien Hirst pieces on the wall, so you get high-level food and high-level art.
Claude Bosi at Bibendum – it's the old MICHELIN building in London and another one of my favorites.
Which city has the most underrated food scene?
Portland and Denver.In Denver, The Wolf’s Tailor and Brutø. They’re the same restaurateur, and they do a really good job.
In Portland, one of my favorite restaurants is Kann. It's a Haitian spot. It's unreal.
Now you're in San Antonio, Texas, where MICHELIN debuted in 2024. What are your favorites there?
It's funny you say that. That was a huge thing. I was watching that closely.In San Antonio, I had been to Mixtli before you guys gave it the Star. It's an incredible place. Love the team. Women-led team. They do a great job.
Several chefs, including Thomas Keller, Josiah Citrin, and David Chang, have contributed to your food growth. What have you learned from them?
With Thomas Keller, obviously it's a saying that is very popular at The French Laundry – it's about the finesse. When you see his kitchen and the work that they put in, constantly innovating and delivering at that level every single night, that's what gives it such a unique experience.A lot of people hear MICHELIN and have an idea of what the food is going to be like. Not every restaurant is the same. It’s the quality foods, the presentation, the uniqueness. To go out and do it every single night and maintain that standard is extremely difficult, especially at a place like The French Laundry, when there's so many chefs that come in and they leave and start their own projects, and they still keep that level year in year out.
Who would you want to treat to a MICHELIN-Starred meal?
A lot of my young teammates on the Spurs! Victor Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan. Victor is French, and Jeremy is Polish and English, born in Oklahoma. They've all experienced different types of food, so for them to experience a different type of meal, maybe something that's out of the box they normally wouldn't eat or try, would be interesting for them.Where’s next on your list to try?
n/naka and Hayato.
Address Book
Brutø (One MICHELIN Star and MICHELIN Green Star)
1801 Blake St., Denver, CO 80202
Claude Bosi at Bibendum (Two MICHELIN Stars)
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 6RD, United Kingdom
Destroyer
3578 Hayden Ave., Culver City, CA 90232
Hayato (Two MICHELIN Stars)
1320 E. 7th St., Ste. 126, Los Angeles, CA 90021
kann
548 SE Ash St, Portland, OR 97214
Mélisse (Two MICHELIN Stars)
1104 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Meteora (One MICHELIN Star)
6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038
Mixtli (One MICHELIN Star)
812 S. Alamo St., Ste. 103, San Antonio, TX 78205
n/naka (One MICHELIN Star)
3455 S. Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Olamaie (One MICHELIN Star)
1610 San Antonio St., Austin, TX 78701
SingleThread (Three MICHELIN Stars and MICHELIN Green Star)
131 North St., Healdsburg, CA 95448
The French Laundry (Three MICHELIN Stars and MICHELIN Green Star)
6640 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599
The Wolf's Tailor (One MICHELIN Star and MICHELIN Green Star)
4058 Tejon St., Denver, 80211, CO USA
Vespertine (Two MICHELIN Stars and MICHELIN Green Star)
3599 Hayden Ave., Culver City, CA 90232
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