These two L.A. restaurants are the city's first-ever to receive three Michelin stars

Los Angeles Times

7 days ago

Wednesday night's Michelin Guide announcement was a historic one for Los Angeles: For the first time in the guide's history, the global dining compendium awarded three stars — the highest rating possible — to an L.A. restaurant. In fact, it awarded three stars to two L.A. restaurants.
Michelin's California Guide is published each year, highlighting the state's best restaurants according to the company's team of anonymous inspectors. Michelin stars, awarded on a scale from one to three, are widely regarded as one of the highest accolades a restaurant can garner.
One star signifies 'high-quality cooking, worth a stop,' two stars recognize 'excellent cuisine, worth a detour,' and three stars translate to 'exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.'
Multiple restaurants in Los Angeles have been awarded two stars, but this year previous star holders Providence and Somni crossed the threshold into three-star status — the only two restaurants in California to newly earn the accolade in 2025.
Los Angeles chef Ki Kim of Little Tokyo's Restaurant Ki won the Michelin Young Chef Award, in addition to his restaurant earning a single star. Kim battled mental health difficulties during the closure of his first restaurant, Kinn, but returned with a new modern Korean tasting menu last year. At the ceremony, held in Sacramento at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, Kim was praised for his 'exhibited leadership and dedication to the craft.'
The 2025 statewide guide also recognized 123 restaurants with its 'bib gourmand' awards, indicating 'good food at a moderate price.' It also awarded green stars, denoting sustainability practices.
Providence owners Michael Cimarusti and Donato Poto appeared stunned as they headed to the stage to accept their award, hugging the puffy white mascot Michelin Man. Somni chef Aitor Zabala removed his suit jacket onstage, immediately changing into chef's whites. He promptly hugged every three-star chef standing on stage, then posed for a photo revealing his shirt: 'Immigrants feed America.'
According to the Michelin website, restaurants are rated by 'quality of the ingredients used, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, harmony of flavors, and consistency between visits.'
Providence, in Hollywood, has a long history in the Michelin Guide. The restaurant — a destination for sustainable seafood by way of an artful tasting menu — turned 20 this month. In its third year in operation, it earned one Michelin star. The following year, it gained a second. Michelin Guide would leave L.A. for a decade, but when it returned in 2019, Providence again earned two stars.
Notwithstanding Michelin Guide's 2020 pause in ratings due to the pandemic and wildfires, Providence held two stars every year since the guide's return to L.A. In 2023 the restaurant also earned the green star, commending its sustainability practices.
'Providence is a wonderful example of consistency and evolution,' Michelin Guide's anonymous chief inspector of North America told The Times via email.
Cimarusti 'is very passionate, serious and focused as he has been doing wonderful work over the years, recently reaching an inflection point which was made evident in our meals this year,' they continued. 'When you get to the three stars level, it's about a distinct personality and level of technical expertise that makes it one of the best restaurants in the world.'
Somni also previously held Michelin stars; but the original restaurant — a collaboration between chefs José Andrés and Aitor Zabala — closed in 2020 after two years inside the SLS Hotel in Beverly Grove. It earned two stars in 2019.
Then, in late November, Zabala — with Andrés' blessing but not his business partnership — reopened Somni in a new West Hollywood home. The new tasting menu includes new dishes, 14 seats overlooking a chefs counter, and a progressive, multi-structure experience that involves a patio reception.
'We've had plenty of experience at Somni in its first iteration and were sad to see that it closed,' the anonymous chief inspector of North America told The Times. 'We're very excited that it has re-emerged in such an impressive state. Chef Zabala has a singular vision and has guided his team to produce a culinary experience that is hands down stunning. The new restaurant iteration is an even more impactful representation of the original.'
There are now eight three-star restaurants in the state of California: Providence, Somni, San Diego's Addison, and Northern California's Atelier Crenn, the French Laundry, Benu, Quince and Single Thread.
Two restaurants freshly earned two stars in the 2025 guide — San Francisco's Kiln and Sonoma's Enclos — while five restaurants newly earned one-star ratings, including two in Los Angeles.
Ki Kim's modern Korean tasting menu in Little Tokyo, Ki, now holds a star, as does Nozomi Mori's Sawtelle sushi omakase, Mori Nozomi, which is helmed by an all-female staff. Other new one-star awardees are Carlsbad's Lilo, Santa Barbara's Silvers Omakase and Oakland's Sun Moon Studio.
Other new L.A.-area accolades include most of the year's new bib gourmand additions: Komal in Historic South-Central, Rasarumah in Historic Filipinotown, Vin Folk in Hermosa Beach and West Adams' temporarily closed Bee Taqueria, home to some of the best tacos in the city.
'This is huge for us,' Komal chef and co-founder Fátima Juárez told The Times last month when she learned her restaurant would be included in the California guide in some manner, though she was not sure what its recognition would be.
'I'm grateful,' she said in June. 'I never say, 'Oh, I'm cooking for [awards] or I'm cooking for this.' You know, I'm cooking because I love cooking, and I love my kitchen.'
Hayato, Mélisse and Vespertine al maintained their two-star ratings from 2024.
L.A.-area one-star awardees who retained their 2024 rating include 715, Camphor, Citrin, Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, Gwen, Heritage, Holbox, Kali, Kato, Meteora, Morihiro, n/naka, Nozawa Bar, Orsa & Winston, Osteria Mozza, Pasta Bar, Rebel Omakase, Shibumi, Shin Sushi, Sushi I-naba, Sushi Kaneyoshi and Uka.
Near Los Angeles, so did Bell's in Los Alamos, Caruso's in Montecito, Valle in Oceanside, Knife Pleat in Costa Mesa, Jeune et Jolie in Carlsbad and Soichi in San Diego.
Sushi Ginza Onodera in West Hollywood did not retain its star, nor did Hana re Sushi in Costa Mesa.
Michelin's full list of 2025 California Guide awardees can be found here.