MICHELIN Guide Inspectors spend all year on the road uncovering the best restaurants to recommend—and their discoveries are too good to keep secret. With the full 2023 MICHELIN Guide California selection coming up this summer, we wanted to spread the news about ten new additions spread across the Golden State.
Those longing for Hollywood's Golden Era will do wise to visit Josiah Citrin's spot Dear Jane's. One part clubhouse, another part seafood-centric boîte, the only better pairing are the cocktails and the food. Outside of Los Angeles, chefs Ben and Ayako Sato are upping the ante at Taira Sushi & Sake with their innovative take on sushi, izakaya, and omakase.
Los Angeles
Cento Pasta Bar
Cuisine: Italian
Tucked away in West Adams, this one-time pop-up gone brick-and-mortar from Chef Avner Levi feels timely but has a great laidback vibe.
The menu leans Italian-contemporary, with selections including antipasti and mole-braised ossobuco made with yogurt-marinated lamb over couscous, but as the name suggests, pasta takes center stage.
Cobi's
Cuisine: Asian
Discover Thai and Malaysian delights along with other influences on this broad Southeast Asian menu. Start with dumplings, satay or curry puffs, those crispy triangular shells filled with curried split peas and potatoes sided by pickled onion and tamarind ketchup. From there, pick a curry or a wood-grilled main dish such as grilled prawns in a ginger and yellow bean sauce. Prix fixe options include a smattering of dishes selected by the chef.
Dear Jane's
Cuisine: American
In case this Marina del Rey restaurant's glass wall with views of the boats outside didn't give it away, Dear Jane's celebrates the life aquatic with its focus on old school seafood and Continental cuisine. This spot pours it on with large portions and over-the-top flourishes (caviar makes a regular appearance) while keeping things grounded with strong cooking.
Dunsmoor
Cuisine: American
With embers glowing, flames snapping and smoke billowing, two ferocious ovens serve as the twin hearts and hearths of this Glassell Park hot spot. Much of the Southern-inspired menu must pass through them — oysters, cornbread, rib eyes and pork chops. Nearly everything here offers some kind of hearty, no-nonsense kind of comfort.
Juliet
Cuisine: French
The open kitchen buzzes all day, but dinner is where this team shines. Oysters, tartare or tuna carpaccio could kick off the meal, but the mousse au foie de volaille, with its delicate tart filled with chicken liver mousse, toasted hazelnuts and an apple gelee, is an auspicious beginning. Sea bream with ratatouille and pistou is simple but well executed, and pairs well with one of their many wines available by the glass.
Villa's Tacos
Cuisine: Mexican
This brick-and-mortar marks a milestone for a chef who first started serving out of his grandmother’s house. The signature queso taco is instantly recognizable, built on a blue corn masa tortilla stacked with refried beans, onion, cilantro, guacamole, cotija cheese, crema and a melted skirt of Monterey Jack. Variations with asada and chorizo are favorites, with vegan options on offer as well. Colorful, messy and filling, these tacos thrive on their own but also sing with the homemade salsas, some of which are ferociously spicy.
Orange County
Kaori Sushi
Cuisine: Japanese
Kaori Sushi is living proof that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Don't let its location within a nondescript open-air mall fool you, as this spot's flavors are anything but ho-hum. The menu may not be large, but it includes a list of daily dish selections, cooked dishes, such as mara udon or gyu tongue, and more unusual choices like kani blue crab "risotto." An entire menu is dedicated to the restaurant's well-regarded "rolls," but stick to the classic sashimi and nigiri.
Poppy & Seed
Cuisine: Southern
Settle in at sunset or under the stars to enjoy dishes such as creamy Anson Mills grits topped with gravy and plump tail-on shrimp. Charred eggplant puree and pickled sea beans lend a bite to steak tartare, while fried Brussels sprouts are sweet and salty thanks to bacon jam and pomegranate. Juicy strawberries and roasted beets make an earthy-sweet combination that could pull double duty as dessert.
Taira Sushi & Sake
Cuisine: Japanese
Young duo Chef Ben and Ayako Sato have penned a love letter to Japan here, where great care is paid to details (even the menu is handwritten nightly) and warm hospitality makes everyone feel welcome. Standouts include kinmedai seared with ponzu, spring onions and red yuzu or tender firefly squid topped with scallions and laced with nori. Seared spicy cod roe and hearty stewed fish cheeks are inventive starters, and a smattering of "rolls" are on offer (think ume shiso roll).
San Diego
Artifact at Mingei
Cuisine: International
The culinary offerings are proudly eclectic and international, ranging from carefully pleated rock shrimp gyoza with a yuzu-flavored dashi, to lamb kibbeh with quinoa tabbouleh. Plant-based options, like Thai green curry with sweet potato and crispy noodles, are clearly no afterthought, and desserts like cardamon tapioca with saffron granita hold their own.
May New Additions
Napa
Auro
Cuisine: Contemporary
Soak up the bucolic splendor of Napa’s northern reaches in the Four Seasons resort, the ideal setting for this au courant embodiment of classic Wine Country fine dining. Chef Rogelio Garcia displays a distinctly Californian perspective, using precise technique in order to highlight exceptional ingredients. Whether it’s a lively crudo of dry-aged kampachi with golden kiwi aguachile, or an earthy, ultra-silky sunchoke velouté with jamon de Bellota and Périgord truffle, each dish is finely tuned and harmonious.
Oakland
Bombera
Cuisine: Mexican
Fire provides the central motif for this boisterous community staple, from the venue itself (a former fire station) to the name (Spanish for fire woman), all the way to a crackling wood-fired oven that not only animates the kitchen, but also provides ash used to nixtamalize corn for house-made masa. All of this seems perfectly fitting for Chef Dominica Rice-Cisneros, whose passion has helped to shape Oakland's current Mexican restaurant scene, combining a locavore pedigree and fine dining chops with a respect for the generational knowledge of heritage cooking.
Lion Dance Cafe
Cuisine: Singaporean
Billing itself as “authentic, not traditional," the plant-based cooking deploys bold flavors rooted in Chef Chia's Teochow Chinese-Singaporean heritage in a small menu of unique dishes boasting seasonal ingredients. One of the marquee dishes is the laksa, featuring slippery rice noodles in a riotously aromatic, complex coconut broth with rotating garnishes that might include smoky sambal made from urfa peppers and a chili crunch made with nutty pepitas; the crusty sesame-studded sourdough shaobing is also a signature.
Parche
Cuisine: Colombian
Alongside an assortment of ceviches and empanadas, the menu proudly announces its Colombian bona fides with dishes like patacones (smashed fried plantains) and arepas, but isn’t shy about departing from tradition. The cooking embraces the country’s multicultural influences, including African and Lebanese, spotted in items like a labneh dipping sauce served with cheese-filled yuca buñuelos, or a leche de tigre with tahini.
Pomet
Cuisine: Californian
Proprietor Aomboon Deasy is also a farmer, best known as the owner of K&J Orchards. She tapped Chef Alan Hsu to lead the kitchen, and his menu is unsurprisingly ingredient-driven, proudly proclaiming the myriad local farms that supply it (in addition to Deasy's own). Whether it’s oysters with Niitaka pear and cider mignonette, or pasta filled with a puree of “ugly mushrooms” and sauced with a celery root miso butter, simplicity is a virtue when ingredients are this good.
Snail Bar
Cuisine: Contemporary
Although it would be easy to dismiss this perpetually buzzy spot as just another cooler-than-thou hipster haunt for natural wine, here you'll find some of Oakland's most exciting and well-crafted cooking. Chef Andres Giraldo Florez has worked in some of the world’s loftiest kitchens, and although the vibe here is unfussy, his fine dining chops are evident in every precise, flavorful dish.
Peninsula
Breakwater Barbecue
Cuisine: Barbecue
This is the kind of place where you'll want to grab a beer immediately upon entering before tucking into the likes of chili made with house-ground brisket, smoked short rib and house-made sausage. Braised in smoked pork stock with roasted poblano, smoked tomato and garlic, it's packed with smoky, spicy flavors and best sided with a slice of corn bread. But wait, there's more, specifically the Texas Trinity. It's an impressive heap of brisket, ribs and links, plus two sides.
Kajiken
Cuisine: Noodles
Kajiken has landed on the West Coast from Japan with the promise of shaking up your noodle routine with abura soba. This noodle dish is similar to ramen but eschews the broth, instead punching up the flavor courtesy of a special blend of oils and sauces. The springy noodles are made in house (score a seat facing the windowed noodle-making area) and are satisfying enough to eat plain, but with nine varieties, why?
San Francisco
Anomaly SF
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef Mike Lanham impresses with beautifully presented dishes that display both creativity and a keen sense of texture, drawing upon a modernist toolkit without going overboard with foams and gels. The frequently changing tasting showcases a wealth of seasonal produce alongside a playful sensibility, as in an emoji-inspired egg bite, or a sophisticated trio of fennel preparations, a winking response to a previous complaint that the ingredient was over-used.
Aphotic
Cuisine: Seafood
Chef Peter Hemsley takes full advantage of California's coastal bounty, sourcing exceptional seafood from small sustainable purveyors and utilizing techniques like dry aging and fermentation to maximum effect. The kitchen’s creativity is displayed in dishes like thinly shaved Monterey abalone with swordfish “bacon” and citrusy dashi broth, as well as a warm bread course paired with a curry-scented hollandaise loaded with sweet Dungeness crab.
Copra
Cuisine: Indian
Chef Srijith Gopinathan’s return to San Francisco’s dining scene is a love letter to the cuisine of his home state of Kerala, on the southwestern coast of India. The sizable menu is geared towards sharing, though the modest portions encourage enthusiastic ordering, from a “palette” of assorted brightly flavored chutneys with pappadom, to a seriously aromatic fried chicken dish inspired by a favorite street food.
Friends Only
Cuisine: Sushi
Sip on delightfully unique cocktails with the likes of black truffle amaro or sesame orgeat, and enjoy a parade of bites highlighting seafood of impeccable quality, much of it painstakingly dry-aged in house. Traditional nigiri and sashimi are served alongside cooked dishes, as in cherrywood-smoked unagi brightened with the prickle of sansho pepper, or binchotan-grilled spot prawn with ramp butter.
HK Lounge Bistro
Cuisine: Chinese
Families and business types alike find pleasure in artfully pleated Shanghai dumplings filled with rich broth and fresh crab meat, or baked pork buns with a crackling topping; sweet bites like fried sesame balls, egg tarts and mango pudding are also much admired. At dinner, the menu is fleshed out with more substantial, large-format dishes, including crisp-skinned roast duck and fragrant steamed seabass.
LeYou
Cuisine: Ethiopian
Dynamic chef/co-owner Aida Taye offers a lighter, unique approach to Ethiopian cuisine, as in a kifto that substitutes lean tuna for beef. Kick off the meal with kategna, an injera toasted to a crisp, doused with chili powder and served with a sour-cream/yogurt dip. A vegetable platter includes gomen, or chopped collard greens; atakilt, a tender stew of cabbage, potatoes and carrots; fossolia, or green beans stewed with carrots, turmeric, tomato and onions; and azifa selat'a, refreshing green lentils tossed in lemon juice and hot mustard vinaigrette.
Noodle in a Haystack
Cuisine: Japanese
This humble counter, located in a nondescript corner building in the Inner Richmond, is one of the city’s hardest-to-snag reservations, with a singular ramen-centered tasting menu that is hotly in-demand. The particular bowl on offer at any given time is subject to the season and the creative impulses of the kitchen, unbound by strict tradition.
Petiscos
Cuisine: Portuguese
Authentically prepared dishes highlight the flavors of Portugal and feature imported ingredients. The rustic, home-style cooking includes favorites such as broa, a traditional cornbread, and lupini beans, codfish croquettes and a tender octopus salad that is a meal unto itself. Braised pig ears tossed with citrus and herb dressing are a pleasure to dig into, as are the meaty, golden-brown grilled sardines.
Prik Hom
Cuisine: Thai
The name translates to fragrant chili, and aroma is part and parcel of the cooking, from complex hand-pounded curry pastes, to a bright, herbaceous salad of crunchy lotus stem. Even a signature dessert of coconut ice cream topped with candied palm seeds and pandan-flavored rice crisps is finished with a plume of fragrant smoke from a traditional Thai incense candle.
Rosemary & Pine
Cuisine: Contemporary
Thoughtful cooking features top-notch ingredients, blending Chef Dustin Falcon’s fine dining training with Italian-American favorites from his childhood in New Jersey. Fried burrata with fra diavolo sauce and pistachio pesto is a lofty take on mozzarella sticks, and house-made pastas like paccheri alla vodka and pillowy honeynut squash agnolotti attest to the kitchen’s skill.
Suragan
Cuisine: Korean
This singular endeavor aims to translate the historical cuisine of Korea’s Joseon dynasty into a modern context. The journey begins with Sanga Yorok, a collection of royal court recipes that dates back more than 500 years, a timeframe that will progress chronologically as seasons pass. Chef Choi interprets the ancient text into a contemporary tasting menu, spanning dishes like fermented fish with orange, tomato and fennel.
Hero image: Shade Degges/Juliet
