Michelin, which publishes one of the world’s most respected food guides, on Monday night unveiled its 2024 star honorees, value eats and notable new openings. At a ceremony at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay for the launch of the international tire company’s latest California guide, seven restaurants received their first Michelin star.
Considered a culinary benchmark for quality, technique, service and expertise, Michelin stars are considered one of the industry’s highest honours: one star signifies “high-quality cuisine, worth a stop”, two stars denote “excellent cuisine, worth a detour” and three stars mean “exceptional cuisine, worth a special trip”. The Bib Gourmand awards, of which there are 132, translate as “good food at a moderate price”.
The new 2024 guide highlights 577 restaurants across the state and lists 85 starred California restaurants, including three new one-star ratings in Los Angeles and the return of two stars to Vespertine, Jordan Kahn’s fine-dining restaurant in Culver City, which was closed for dine-in service from March 2020 until its recent reopening in April.
No new three-star ratings were awarded in the state.
Famous seafood restaurant Holbox in historic South Central Los Angeles — Restaurant of the year 2023 according to The Timeswhere chef and owner Gilberto Cetina serves scallop tacos, clams, grilled octopus and other Mexican coastal specialties, has received its first Michelin star.
“What does it mean to you to receive a star?” the host asked Cetina during the ceremony.
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “I mean, it’s huge. I’ve dreamed about this moment.”
Melrose’s fine-dining restaurant Meteora, from Vespertine chef Kahn, also received its first star. The new kaiseki restaurant Uka, located above Hollywood inside the Japan House cultural center, also earned its first star, with Michelin inspectors highlighting the restaurant’s fish curing and aging process.
Ian Krupp, wine director at Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, has been awarded the 2024 Michelin Sommelier Award.
There are 16 green stars in this year’s guide, awarded for sustainability practices; the only new green star awarded in 2024 was also earned by Vespertine.
The controversial food compendium is widely recognised as one of the world's leading authorities on where to eat in more than 170 countries, with its team of anonymous inspectors scouring restaurants and the world, often encouraged or sponsored by local tourism boards.
In 2019, the nonprofit tourism organization Visit California paid $600,000 to expand Michelin’s coverage beyond the Bay Area, though a Visit California representative said the sponsorship does not include editorial influence over the guide or its new state-level inclusions.
“We were delighted to see local California culinary talent evolve with the promotion of two restaurants to two-star status and the return of a former two-star restaurant,” Michelin's anonymous chief inspector for North America told The Times by email.
Michelin representatives declined to specify how many inspectors participated in the California guide or how many visited restaurants specifically in Los Angeles.
Other new one-star additions include Rebel Omakase in Laguna Beach and 7 Adams, Hilda and Jesse, and Kiln in San Francisco.
In Los Angeles, 715, Camphor, Citrin, Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Beverly Hills, Gwen, Heritage at Long Beach, Kali, Kato, Morihiro, Nozawa Bar, Orsa & Winston, Osteria Mozza, Pasta Bar, Shibumi, Shin Sushi, Sushi I-Naba, and Sushi Kaneyoshi all retained their one-star ratings from the 2023 guide. Sushi Ginza Onodera and n/naka previously had two stars in the 2023 California guide but now have one.
Q Sushi in Midtown did not retain its one-star rating, nor did Maude by Curtis Stone in Beverly Hills, which recently announced its permanent closure scheduled for Sept. 28; Curtis Stone’s Pie Room will open in its place. Several restaurants that earned stars last year have permanently closed since the 2023 guide was published, including Manzke, in a markedly difficult year for restaurants.
New two-star restaurants include Aubergine in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Sons & Daughters in San Francisco. Vespertine regained its two-star rating, bringing the number of two-star restaurants in the Los Angeles area to four, joining Hayato, Mélisse and Providence. There are currently no three-star restaurants in Los Angeles, although Addison in San Diego has retained its three-star rating. The rest are in Northern California.
Vespertine and Meteora chef Jordan Kahn with his wife, Zara Ziyaee Kahn, who serves as the restaurants' marketing director.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The reopening of Vespertine was years in the making; after closing it during the pandemic, Kahn and his partners found the space required major, much-needed repairs. In the meantime, Kahn and his team hosted pop-up events and themed takeout menus. They opened Meteora and the chef began brainstorming and then cooking up a new version of his fine-dining restaurant.
“I found the first version very moving,” Kahn told The Times when Vespertine reopened in April. “It was connecting the space, the food, the environment, the materials and everything — a very cohesive, singular kind of expression. I think the most recent version feels more evolved, that it’s still going on, that it still has a similar quality, but it’s me, seven years later … It was like my work, and this is more like my life.”
The 2024 guide also added 10 new Bib Gourmand award-winning restaurants, most of which are in the Los Angeles area. Grá, Little Fish and Quarter Sheets, all in Echo Park, earned the recognition, as did Liu's Cafe in Koreatown, Mae Malai Thai House of Noodles in Thaitown, Manohar's Deli Palace in La Puente and Pollo a la Brasa, which has multiple locations.
Newbury Park's Cedro Italian restaurant also earned a Bib Gourmand, as did Lola Gaspar in Santa Ana and Molti Amici in Healdsburg.
