Michelin has the least understandable set of criteria (even if we are not privy to it) for judging Japanese/sushi for SF…
LA will no doubt get at least a few Michelin star restaurants awarded to sushi and Japanese places, but I don’t see any of the more well regarded names of places on FTC that I’m aware of that is deemed true Edomae to me, although some restaurants will incorporate elements or techniques. Before all of these other Michelin SF sushi omakase places, Mori Sushi, Sushi Zo, Urasawa blew everything else away up here. All we had was stubborn ol’ Ino Sushi but very few people really understood where his skills and strengths were (aside from that legendary ankimo of his).
Even in Tokyo a lot of restaurants have strayed well away from Edomae style and trying to do their own thing as the next generation of younger chefs crop up to find a style they like doing and to set themselves apart. To experience true Edomae style you will have to go to very specific neighborhoods and restaurants…and if you are used to the styles in California, you may find true Edomae old school style stale, boring, and in some ways less appealing visually. But once you get it, it’s true skills at work. And it’s not about buying the best fish and using the best ingredients, slicing and serving. It’s applying the skills to elevate the experience of the customer with every step of the way (including the best fish and ingredients and more importantly having the best skills to prep everything), and yet still have the passion every night to deliver this consistently and in the best of all cases improve.
Realistically, assuming they keep to the same criteria as the SF guide, guessing only places I’ve been to, ignoring which got stars in the LA book ten years ago:
one star
Bewildered Pig (Philo)
Cassia, since it’s so Frenchy.
Gwen
Majordomo (Momofuku Ko has two but they have a tasting menu)2
I’m curious which sushi restaurants will warrant a star. If classic edomae is a criteria then I can’t wait to see the reactions if a place like Q Sushi gets a star over other, probably better, sushi restaurants.
I generally do agree with @sffood that Somni should be 2 stars off the bat and Hayato starting at 1 star sounds reasonable. I’m more curious as to whether they will start with a small list of starred restaurants (10-20) or go crazy out the gate (40+)
Baco Mercat has consistently good food and reasonable prices, plus it’s open late and I can always get a seat. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there but I think it’s similar to some of the SFBA Bib Gourmand places.
Glancing at the appetizers, I came across an unfamiliar dish. What’s a “scoobie?” I asked the server, guessing it was a heretofore unknown regional specialty. The server explained that Madcap’s chef, Ron Siegel, is a fan of Scooby-Doo, and liked the idea of putting a Scooby Snack on the menu.
They asked if they can use 2 of my pictures from Instagram, one from Asanebo and one from n/naka. i agreed since they were just iphone pics and they weren’t really great photos.
edit: come to think of it, i shouldn’t have agreed. oh well
Honestly, I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to pay for their own pictures. I think it has more to do with the fact that they try to review the restaurants anonymously. I could be wrong though.
My theory is that Michelin Guide wants to “make it nice” and glossy by taking advantage of the kindess of strangers, rather than hire their own photographer.
The hashtag request just makes it legally defensible, under the guise of “See - we’re hip to the Instagram generation”…
Maybe using their own photos gives away who they are? I got asked for photos for a couple of places on Instagram, and saw some other asks, which actually queued me into a couple places I predicted I wouldn’t have thought about as under consideration for a star.
So which, if any San Gabriel Valley Chinese restaurants will be starred? I also received a Michelin request to use an Instagram photo that I took at Lunasia.
None I hope. I’d say if Lunasia somehow gets a Michelin Star, if I didn’t die of laughter, I’d post on FTC that we’d need no other proof that the Michelin guide for L.A. in 2020 is a complete joke.
