I love the Michelin Guide and am happy it’s coming back to LA, though LA isn’t a great fine-dining city. Here would be my list if I were a Michelin inspector.
Three Stars (***)
Somni (Only eaten here once; could be **)
Two Stars (**)
Providence
Hayato
Urasawa (Could be ***, but is it even still open?)
Vespertine (The hardest to judge because the food tastes like alien food but is the most ambitious on this entire list–could be *** or *)
One Star (*)
Republique
Spago
Officine Brera
Drago Centro
Bavel
Simone
Rossoblu
Mori (Is it still open and high-quality?)
Q Sushi
Sushi Zo
N/Naka
Shunji
Osteria Mozza
Orsa & Winston
The Bazaar
Melisse (But is this even still open?)
Trois Mec
Here’s Looking at You
Fell a bit short:
71 Above (But very close – only went here once)
Lucques
Gjelina
Tempura Endo
Factory Kitchen
Felix (But only been here once)
Bestia
Majordomo
Chi Spacca
Pizzeria Mozza
Cut (But only been here once)
Redbird
Plant Food + Wine Venice
Sonoratown
Spice Affair??? (Haven’t been in person, but delivery shows Michelin-star potential)
Tsujita Sushi
Michael’s
Otium
Gwen
Restaurants that others may think merit consideration and I think not:
AOC
Tasting Kitchen
Angelini Osteria
Rosaline
Alimento
Rustic Canyon
Shibumi
Broken Spanish
Lukshon
Cassia
Animal
Kismet
Manuela
Guerrilla Tacos
Anything else Mexican
Anything Thai
Anything Chinese in the SGV except maybe Sea Harbour and Bistro Na’s
WP24
Vincenti
Le Comptoir
Jar
Restaurants I haven’t tried but probably merit consideration
Sushi Ginza Onodera (the branch in NYC has ** and well deserves it. But I’ve heard nothing about the branch in LA.)
Shiki
Dialogue
Maude
Taco Maria
In terms of tasting menu tweezer food, I think LA has never been a “fine-dining” kind-of-a-place. The lack of Michelin is why LA’s food scene is so remarkable. But I don’t think the way we dine here is compatible with Michelin. I don’t think our comfort level of jeans and t-shirt culture jive well with them.
But I’ll play the game at the 3 star category:
It’ll be one restaurant. (the places I don’t feel comfortable wearing jeans).
Either Somni, Dialogue, is Urasawa still around?, n/naka, Vespertine. And I agree that the weirdness of Vespertine could leave it off the guide completely.
I’m not going to sing the praises of Drago Centro. But I’m pretty sure it had a star back in the year when Michelin was in LA. Drago Centro is a classic low-end Michelin one-star restaurant. The food is consistently skillfully prepared (albeit boring).
Compare it to a classic Jonathan Gold (God rest his soul) favorite restaurant, Guerilla Tacos. The Food is consistently sloppily prepared (albeit bold and flavorful).
I’m not going to sing the praises of Simone either. BUT – the way they prepared their sturgeon is absolutely Michelin star quality. So perfect. And I haven’t ever eaten a dish there that wasn’t skillfully put together. For me, Simone is easily a one-star restaurant.
They’re very serious. They don’t have an agenda. They review restaurants for a living and do it objectively. I hope they don’t take on a “pop food culture” mentality for profit motive and start giving stars to food trucks. When they give a star to a ramen place in Tokyo, it’s a serious place with serious refinement, not someone in a truck getting breathless reviews for combining uni and halloumi with Thai green curry sauce into one taco–oh my!!!