The Culinary World’s Most Prestigious Guide Comes Back to Los Angeles

Hey, Michelin … did you miss us?

After an abrupt break-up with the City of Angels back in 2010, The Michelin Guide is officially returning to LA. The publication will include all of California and replace the Bay Area edition currently available. Los Angeles’s star continues to rise on the world food stage, so it’s not shocking that Michelin decided to get back in the game here.

According to Eater LA, As LA’s stature in the global culinary scene continues to increase, restaurants like Somni, Dialogue and Vespertine have heralded a shift to an even higher aspiration in food (and the prices to match). However, when the guide rated places in Los Angeles, it never awarded a restaurant its highest three-star mark.”

While many chefs are welcoming the news, others want to know, why the hell did they leave in the first place? That nine-year absence still burns up some our best talent. Eater LA also compiled a few reactions from local chefs. Here are a few highlights.

Vartan Abgaryan, 71Above, Yours Truly: “I think it’s big for Los Angeles. We have an incredibly diverse and exciting food scene and it’s important for proud LA chefs who have been cooking in this great city to feel that they are being taken seriously in the food community. I am curious to see how the guide will translate our city’s ethos and attitude into its already existing grading systems. I hope they can honestly capture and understand LA and be successful.”

Evan Funke, Felix: “Expected. I welcome the Michelin Guide with open arms. In my opinion it was only a matter of time before the guide recognized that there are serious professionals here dedicated to excellence. Our restaurants may not be opulent and they are completely devoid of white tablecloths but there is serious talent here and it’s goddamn delicious.”

Royce Burke, Yarrow: “I think that Los Angeles has become the best food city in the country in large part because we aren’t cooking for stars. We cook for our neighbors, our communities, and ourselves. All of us have known it was inevitable for Michelin to come back. They would not maintain credibility as a food travel guide without including what is considered far and wide as the greatest food city in America. To ‘come back’ like this, including us as part of the California guide is so fucking insulting. With the exception of a few chefs no one asked for it or wanted them here. Now they are ‘throwing us a bone’ by including us in their new statewide coverage? Same peeps who said that ‘The people in Los Angeles are not real foodies…they are not too interested in eating well.’”

Read more chef responses to the news here.