How Reliable is the Bay Area Michelin Guide?
On the one hand, Bay Area residents were pleased that Michelin recognized the central role good food holds in this region and that the company chose to review this area before any other, besides New York. On the other hand, many food critics don’t feel that the French company really understands America.
Following the publication of the New York guide last year, many food critics denounced the Michelin system as being biased toward French Cuisine. And the New York Times noted that over half of the restaurants which received two or more stars served French food. Thomas Keller is the only American-born chef to receive three stars in either the New York or Bay Area guide.
Naret's take on the critique was that America has "never really met or received true restaurant criticism."
Following the publication of the Bay Area guide, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an editorial calling the Michelin Guide “ethnocentric…completely clueless about non-European cuisine and arrogant to boot.
“Until Naret creates a taqueria guide, such as the one that ran recently in our food pages, he doesn't have any business mouthing off about criticism or presuming that he understands much about food in California.”
Slanted Door, an immensely popular Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, didn’t receive any stars. Chef Charles Phan commented in the Chronicle: "I'm a local boy, so I don't read that stuff. I don't kiss up to the French."