A Look at the Michelin San Francisco Rankings.
A Look at the Michelin San Francisco Rankings.
People are moaning and groaning about the rankings of given to the SF restaurants and I have to disagree with most of the complaining. The fact is Michelin was too generous too often and in that I include the three star rankings since only Alain Ducasse in NYC really has that style. In the SF area there should be one two star and that would be the Feench Laundry. The rest should be one-star and a number of those listed probably should get no stars and I include Aqua in that category.
If the selection has not given two stars to only the French Laundry, then nobody would be complaining I can assure you. Anyone who does a lot of traveling in Europe and tracks down the high-end restaurants that are highly ranked by Michelin and Gault Millau know what these sorts of place are like on the continent. Our places do not achieve this sort of quality or glamour of the two and three star places in Europe. One star is about it. And one star in France, for example, is a big deal. It’s a great experience.
The Unknown Taster rankings.
If it were me I’d give two stars to French Laundry.
One star would go to La Folie, Gary Danko, Fleur-de-Lys, Chez Panisse, Ritz-Carlton Dining Room, and Chez Spencer.
That would be it as far as I’m concerned. Everything else is pretty much an also-ran. For people who disagree with this assessment I’d advise a trip to Paris and a visit to Le Procope. It has no stars and is fabulous. It’s just not star fabulous. Use it as the demarcation line for style, décor and food.
The problem seems to be soft reviewing to increase book sales. Back in the 1970’s there was hardly anything outside of France that got a star. Now a sushi bar in San Francisco gets one. They should tighten back up.