San Francisco 2010 MICHELIN Guide Celebrates With More Choices, New Categories and Expanded Coverage
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19, 2009 -- Travelers seeking an enjoyable experience along their journey have counted on the MICHELIN Guide for its trusted recommendations for the past century. And for the past four years, San Francisco-based MICHELIN Guide inspectors have been dining and rating local restaurants and presenting the highly-anticipated selection in the annual MICHELIN Guide. This under $20 purchase enables readers to choose a wonderful restaurant with confidence, and its fourth edition, the 2010 San Francisco MICHELIN Guide, offers even more tools and knowledge for readers to enjoy.
When the MICHELIN Guide was first introduced, it set out to encourage people to drive, and along the way, enjoy the journey. More than a century later, the MICHELIN Guide continues in the same direction of enhancing mobility, while constantly evolving to stay in tune with the needs of its 1.2 million readers around the world. And meeting those needs requires offering options for various budgets and the pickiest of palates for the Bay Area and Wine Country. Enhancements to the 2010 San Francisco MICHELIN Guide include:
NEW SYMBOLS and CATEGORIES
-- Cheers! Kanpai! or Sante! - no matter how you say it, when offering a
toast it's always sweeter when there's a great cocktail, sake or glass
of wine in hand. Joining the popular notable wine list symbol are two
new symbols that highlight restaurants with a notable cocktail program
or sake list.
-- An entirely new classification of restaurants - Small Plates. This
category includes a completely new selection of establishments with a
unique style of menu, ambiance and service not previously included in
any MICHELIN Guide. This category was added to reflect the increasing
popularity and quality of establishments with this style.
ENHANCEMENTS and EXPANSIONS
-- The Bib Gourmand category, also known as "Inspectors' Favorites for
Good Value," has been embraced by MICHELIN Guide readers for providing
a recession-proof dining solution. Featuring restaurants serving a
meal (two dishes and a glass of wine or dessert) for $40 or less, the
2010 San Francisco MICHELIN Guide adds 18 new restaurants to this
edition, for a total of 62 affordable, yet incredibly delicious dining
options. The complete Bib Gourmand selection is available at
www.famouslyanonymous.com
-- The fourth edition of the San Francisco MICHELIN Guide also selects 89
restaurants offering a meal under $25 to reflect the current economic
climate and resulting dining habits.
-- In response to reader comments, also new this year is the expansion of
the East Bay territory to include Walnut Creek, Emeryville and
Lafayette.
-- Introductions that celebrate the difference in each of the
neighborhoods now include foodie-focused details like local specialty
spots, food-related sights and food and wine events for the year.
-- And the stars... this popular category has been re-designed to include
longer text and larger photos, giving the MICHELIN Guide 2010 San
Francisco readers more insight to these establishments.
"The MICHELIN Guide has long been respected and the stars are what people love to talk about in the culinary world," says Jean-Luc Naret, director of the MICHELIN Guides. "But the Guide is so much more. It's filled with a year's worth of notes from the team of inspectors who set out to ensure the MICHELIN Guide provides an excellent mix of what readers truly want - a wonderful dining recommendation from trusted experts."
Thanks to the rigorous MICHELIN Guide selection process that is applied independently and consistently around the world, the MICHELIN Guide has become an international benchmark in gourmet dining. The selection is made by anonymous, professional inspectors who are Michelin employees and is based on the same working methods in all countries. They pay all their bills in full. To find out more about the MICHELIN Guide inspectors and the history of the MICHELIN Guide, visit www.famouslyanonymous.com.
While the MICHELIN Guide is known around the world for its famous stars, these restaurants account for just ten percent of the selection. With more than 1.2 million copies sold in approximately 100 countries, the MICHELIN Guide has always built its success on the diversity of its selection, especially on small establishments offering a high-quality dining experience at an affordable price. Hence the popularity and importance of the Bib Gourmand or "Inspectors' Favorites for Good Value" category and the Under $25 category - both increased in number of offerings in the 2010 edition. Moreover, inclusion in the MICHELIN Guide is, in itself, synonymous with quality, since only the best establishments in each comfort and price category are featured in the Guide.
Present in North America since late 2005, the MICHELIN Guide New York City 2010 went on sale Tuesday, Oct. 6 at $17.99 and the MICHELIN Guide San Francisco 2010 goes on sale Tuesday, Oct. 20 at $17.99.
Now representing 23 countries and three continents, the collection of 26 MICHELIN Guides includes more than 45,000 addresses. Its team of highly trained inspectors visits establishments anonymously, applying Michelin's international standards for quality across many categories. In North America, MICHELIN Guides for New York City and San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country are available. The MICHELIN Guide to Hong Kong and Macao was introduced in December 2008. A new MICHELIN Guide will be launched mid-October in Japan, covering Kyoto and Osaka. For more information, visit www.michelinguide.com.
See below for 2010 MICHELIN Guide listing of starred establishments
NOTE TO EDITORS: HI-RES PHOTOS AND DOWNLOADABLE TEXT AVAILABLE AT www.MichelinMedia.com
2010 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco Starred Restaurants Three Michelin stars *** mean exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey
One always eats here extremely well, sometimes superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients.
The French Laundry Two Michelin stars ** mean excellent cuisine, worth a detour Skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality Coi Cyrus Manresa The Restaurant at Meadowood One Michelin star* means a very good restaurant in its category A place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard Acquerello Luce Ame Madrona Manor Auberge du Soleil Masa's Aziza Michael Mina Bouchon Murray Circle Boulevard One Market Chez Panisse Plumed Horse Chez TJ Quince Commis Range The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton Redd El Paseo (now closed) Sante etoile Solbar Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant Terra Fifth Floor Trevese (now closed) Fleur de Lys Ubuntu Gary Danko The Village Pub La Folie La Toque 2010 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco Bib Gourmand Restaurants Previously released and available at www.FamouslyAnonymous.com Angele Le Charm Aperto Mamacita A 16 Marinitas BarBersQ Market Bar Tartine Maykadeh Bay Wolf Mirepoix Bellanico Monti's Rotisserie Betelnut Pejiu Wu Nopa Border (The) Perbacco Brown Sugar Kitchen Pican Burma Superstar Risibisi Cafe Gibraltar rnm Camino Sakae Cena Luna Sakoon Chevalier Sauce Colibri Slanted Door (The) Cook St. Helena Slow Club Corso Sociale Crouching Tiger Tavern at Lark Creek Cucina Paradiso the girl & the fig Delfina Tokyo Go Go Dosa Tommaso's Farina TWO FIVE Universal Cafe flour + water Vanessa's Bistro Henry's Hunan Willi's Wine Bar Hong Kong Flower Lounge Xanh Incanto Yank Sing Insalata's zazu Junnoon Kitchen (The) K & L Bistro Kokkari Estiatorio
