Eleven North Bay restaurants received the industry's highest rating-- the Michelin star -- with two Napa Valley restaurants maintaining a three-star rating and nine others earning the one-star rating.
The only two places that achieved three Michelin stars in 2012 for the San Francisco region were Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Yountville and Christopher Kostow's The Restaurant at Meadowood Napa Valley in St. Helena, according to the Michelin Guide on travel, diving and lifestyle (michelinguide.com). They maintained their rating from last year.
A three-star ranking is described as "the utmost international recognition in the culinary world."
Thirty-four restaurants throughout the Bay Area earned one star, a culinary accomplishment the guide defines as "a very good restaurant in its category." Of those winners, six are in Napa County and three in Sonoma County:Auberge du Soleil in RutherfordBouchon in YountvilleLa Toque in NapaRedd in Yountville Solbar in CalistogaTerra in St. HelenaTerrapin Creek in Bodega BayThe Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant in ForestvilleMadrona Manor in Healdsburg
A total of 539 restaurants are included in the selection, which covers San Francisco, the East Bay, Wine Country (Sonoma and Napa counties), Marin, the South Bay and the Peninsula. Michelin inspectors sampled 47 different cuisines in the Bay Area this year.
Michelin recently named 22 North Bay restaurants to its 2013 "Bib Gourmand" list in the 2013 edition of the guide.
In the U.S., San Francisco is one of three cities where Michelin publishes an annual guide for San Francisco, New York and Chicago.
