Page 50 - 2020 Travel Guide to California

CUISINE
BY LAURA NESS
Dining Out
A Golden State of haute cuisine
ALFRESCO DINING
All up and down the state dining in the
open air is popular, as it is here in
Pasadena, above. Los Angeles is known
for its wide variety of exquisite
restaurants, and its cousin to the north,
San Francisco, has more restaurants per
capita than any other U.S. city.
The results are in and it’s official: the Bay
Area of the Golden State has finally bested
New York for the greatest number of
Michelin three-starred restaurants, with
1849 and the oldest in California, along
with Sam’s Grill, est. 1867, still hold their
own against innovative newcomers. SF’s
Mission district has become a foodie haven
seven now, compared to five in New York
City and two in Chicago. For those who have
made Star-bagging an official bucket list
thing, this makes California an even more
compelling destination for haute cuisine.
While LA has long been known for its
wide variety of exquisite and diverse
restaurants, San Francisco boasts more
restaurants per capita than any other U.S.
city. It comes as no surprise that of the 166
Michelin-starred restaurants nationwide
for 2019, a full third of them are San Fran-
cisco establishments.
Old standards that have been around for
decades, like Tadich Grill, established in
and surrounding communities from
Berkeley to Palo Alto to Napa and Sonoma
all bring fine food to the table.
Like everything else in California from
politics to entertainment, food is a
celebrity-driven business, to wit, SOMA
darling International Smoke, a collabora-
tion between Michael Mina and Ayesha
Curry (wife of NBA superstar Steph). But
star power inspires, and many have fol-
lowed the lead of garden-to-table pioneer
Alice Waters.
As the birthplace of the farm-to-table
movement that took the country by storm,
the culinary scene here is a mix of where to
PASADENA CVB. OPPOSITE: CHIRS HARDY
48 2020 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA