The Resy Guide to 2021 Michelin Winners in California

Chef William Bradley has leveraged his perspective on the best of SoCal influences and ingredients to bring San Diego its first Michelin-starred restaurant. A nine-course tasting menu shows off his distinct perspective, and goes with a deep California-focused wine selection.

It’s always sunny in the Mission, or at least it is in this bright, white-washed eatery, where Aaron London’s knack for combining original ingredients to create delicious flavors (think grits, with goat-milk curds, shelling beans, grapes, chanterelles and yuzu — and yes, it’s spectacular). London, an alum of Napa’s vegetarian pioneer Ubuntu, knows how to get the most vibrant produce and let it shine, which makes AL’s Place a gem.

Joshua Skenes’ tribute to seafood and live-fire cooking continues to get better. If you haven’t heard the hype, come find out for yourself just why this spot is so good. Pro tip: Despite the focus, the vegetable section is actually a star of the menu. Order one of everything.

Dominique Crenn continues to set a standard for exquisite dining from her Cow Hollow storefront. There’s a reason her cooking is mentioned in the same breath as any three-star chef in the world: This is the essence of Californian bounty, seen through the eye of an absolute master. Atelier Crenn is bookable by members of Global Dining Access by Resy.

Darren and Jean Coyle have found a truly novel interpretation of Irish cooking at their Orange County restaurant. Think Guinness brown bread next to cold-smoked yellowtail, beet agnolotti, and, yes, fish and chips. Their children Ali and Drew handle a deft beverage program.

This decades-old fine dining institution continues to be decorated with awards for good reason: The elegant eatery continues to push the envelope with its locally-driven French cuisine.

It’s no surprise Massimo Bottura’s entry into Los Angeles made a splash: Bottura’s finessed take on Florentine cooking resonates everywhere. In this case, a partnership with Gucci, and chef Mattia Agazzi’s interpretation of Californian ingredients, boosts the experience even further.

One of the most exciting tasting menus in Los Angeles — and the whole state — city can be found in a strip mall in West LA. Jon Yao intermingles the flavors of Taiwan and LA to beautiful and delicious effect, in lineups that mix such luxuries as caviar and geoduck with Taiwanese staples like milkbread and tapioca.

Chiang Mai-inspired Thai cooking meets the local harvest of Sonoma?  We’re here for it, including specialties like bpet yang, charcoal-grilled Liberty duck breast. The wine list, focused on organic and other virtuously farmed selections, embraces local choices but looks well beyond.

Owner Pim Techamuanvivit has made this celebrated Thai spot just off Union Square both fiercely authentic and endlessly innovative. The curry pastes are house-made daily, the cocktails come from some of the Bay’s best bartenders, and the ingredients tap an extraordinary roster of farmers and purveyors.

Akira Akuto and Nick Montgomery’s katsu sando is now effectively canon in Los Angeles. But Konbi offers so much more, including exquisite pickles and salads, and a canelé to humble even the pastry-loving Bordelais.

Here’s the spirit of Spanish cooking brought to Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone. Yes, you want the pan con tomate — chef Jasmine Shimoda has a way with bocadillos. And you want both classics like her tortilla española and paella, but leave room for Cal-Iberican creations like heirloom tomato with basil foam and pistachio dukkah.

Editor’s note: As of Sept. 29, 2023, Marlena has rebranded into a new concept, Foliage SF.

Husband and wife David Fisher and Serena Chow have created one of the most endearing, delightful additions to San Francisco’s roster of tasting-menu restaurants with this low-key spot in Bernal Heights. The flavors and inspirations are nuanced: fresh Hokkaido scallop is graced with horseradish, apple, and nasturtium; pappardelle is tossed with duck ragu and pumpkin.

Mister Jiu’s is Brandon Jew’s testament to the best of Chinese family-style dining (from the flashy gold lotus chandeliers to the indoor tables’ built-in lazy susans) with a Bay Area sensibility that radiates. It has redefined Chinese American food in America, and we absolutely love it.

Mourad Lahlou’s current restaurant in SoMa highlights a convivial, bright side of his Cal-Moroccan cooking. That crystallizes in dishes like a lamb tartare with smoked oyster and tahini. We heartily recommend the la’acha, family-style plates meant for a crowd — like the whole chicken with preserved lemons and marash pepper.

Not every steakhouse gets the Japanese Wagyu Beef Committee’s stamp of approval. Niku Steakhouse did, namely for their single-source cuts from Japan. But the rest of the menu here is equally dazzling: starters like galia melon with Thai basil and fish sauce, and pig ears with chili sauce caramel; sides like chicken fat rice with pumpkin seeds.

Nancy Silverton is a legend in Los Angeles dining, from her early days at Spago and Campanile to her current mini-empire. And Osteria Mozza is at its heart, a tribute to both the Italian cooking she’s perfected over the years but also to the modern style of L.A. Angelenos know the key dishes well, like the ricotta and egg ravioli with brown butter. And of course, Silverton’s cherished mozzarella bar lives on. Osteria Mozza is bookable by members of Global Dining Access by Resy.

Dave Beran has seen his share of Michelin kudos, and at Pasjoli he’s translated all his skills into a French-tinged homage to southern California. It shows up in dishes like his beef tartare, accented with reef lettuce and plums. And yes, the Escoffier-style pressed duck is still on the menu.

The Panisse-like ethos of Berkeley transported to Livermore: A visit to Range Life is a stroll through the bounty of northern California, from a vadouvan curry with zuchetta squash, eggplant, and chickpeas, to oeufs mayonnaise garnished with crisped chicken skin (and an optional dollop of local caviar).

Bay Area bread lovers know it’s worth traveling for pastries from Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, which makes their launch of a proper restaurant even better. John Paul Carmona, formerly Manresa’s chef de cuisine, is in the kitchen here, which make French-minded staples like rillettes (duck and salmon) and roasted halibut with summer corn deceptively simple in concept, but thrilling. Leave room for dessert, of course.

Rustic Canyon is the perfect L.A. wine bar: homey yet refined, with deep roots in seasonal cooking and a knack with vegetables — Weiser potatoes in smoked cashew sauce — and well-sourced meat and fish, as with Baja striped bass with Jimmy Nardello peppers. The wine selections pay homage to the new California cohort as well as the best of postmodern French vignerons.

Alex Hong’s fine dining chops (Jean Georges, Quince) have beautifully translated into a more laid-back Italifornian vibe at this Pacific Heights stunner. The pasta is made by hand daily, and filled and topped with the season’s best.

Carlos Salgado has redefined California Mexican cooking — or Alta California, as he calls it — at his groundbreaking Costa Mesa restaurant. The scallop aguachile is heady with cucumbers and watermelon jam; the duck leg is bolstered by the low, complex tones of fig mole with almonds and benne seed; the nopalitos get a properly Californian amendment of preserved lemon and shallot. Pro tip: Don’t miss dessert, including the strawberry tamal.

The team at Hog Island Oyster Co. has always made a visit up to Tomales Bay worthwhile, so would you expect any different with their expansion to the broader world of seafood?  Oysters are, of course, still the thing at Tony’s — a wide range from both coasts, on the half shell, but also barbecued. But that’s amended with clam chowder, fish and chips, and much more.

This wine bar in downtown Sonoma is the brainchild of four friends who worked at nearby Scribe winery: Lauren Feldman and Tanner Walle, and Emma Lipp and Stephanie Reagor. They understand perfectly how to offer food that complements their wine choices (cumin lamb with eggplant, mortadella) making this one of Wine Country’s great new additions.