There was substantial buzz in the Santa Barbara restaurant community back in early March when it was announced that the region would be, for the first time, analyzed by the Michelin Guide. The globally respected culinary review book series, which was founded by the French tire company in 1900, is best known for awarding stars to the world’s top restaurants.
Its first American guide was issued in 2005 and focused on New York City. San Francisco and the Napa Valley has been analyzed since 2007, and Los Angeles was under the microscope briefly from 2008 to 2010. But this year, thanks to the support of Visit California, which reportedly gave $600,000 in support, the Michelin Man made a triumphant return to the Golden State, with anonymous critics again hitting restaurants in L.A. as well as brand-new territories in Sacramento, San Diego, and parts of the Central Coast.
When the stars were doled out at a beachside bash last Monday in Huntington Beach, 69 restaurants — including ones in Sacramento, Carmel, and San Diego, though San Francisco/Napa and Los Angeles led the pack — were awarded one star, 14 garnered two stars, and seven reached the top of the Michelin pyramid by snagging the coveted three-star ranking. Santa Barbara, meanwhile, got skunked in the stars department.