Michelin Red Guide San Francisco 2007: Bay Area and Wine Country (Michelin Red Guides) [Paperback]

Michelin Travel Publications (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

Following the sell-out success of debut US title "New York City" last year, for 2007, Michelin have expanded their selection to the West Coast. "San Francisco 2007" features 330 of the best restaurants and 60 of the best hotels in the city, the Bay Aream Wine Country and Silcon Valley, with a range of prices to suit every budget. Presented in an easy-to-use format with maps, colour photos, full descriptions and Michelin star ratings. With an introduction to the history and culinary traditions of each region and mouthwatering signature recipes, this is the ideal travel companion for any visit to the San Francisco area.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Food lovers are abuzz with the release of the first Michelin -- Sunset Magazine, September 2006, page 28

This November, the Bay Area will be seeing stars...any will be warmly welcomed — noticed by the entire world. -- Inside the Bay Area.com, April 15, 2006

While Bay Area restaurateurs are not exactly quaking in their boots, they care - a lot (getting in the book). -- SF Chronicle, April 6, 2006

Product Details

• Paperback: 383 pages
• Publisher: Michelin Travel Publications (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2067120840
• ISBN-13: 978-2067120846
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Food & Lodging > Hotels & Inns

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Debut, January 10, 2007

By 

Axel Axel - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Michelin Red Guide San Francisco 2007: Bay Area and Wine Country (Michelin Red Guides) (Paperback)

This is a successful launch of Michelin's coverage of the San Francisco Bay Area. As can be expected from any Michelin Guide this has very useful information, including colored street maps, a comprehensive listing and commentary of major hotels and restos. I recommend this guide to visitors to the Bay Area. I would hope, though, that future editions would have more depth and insights to the region's real jewel, its high quality neighborhood restos.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite good, January 3, 2007

By 

Sylvain Flamant "sflamant" (saratoga, ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michelin Red Guide San Francisco 2007: Bay Area and Wine Country (Michelin Red Guides) (Paperback)

I am french, and for me, Michelin is still the reference. The guide is nicely presented. My only criticism would be that it is not as comprehensive as I would have liked it to be ( when compared to its equivalents in France), especially when it comes to the hotels ( It appears that Michelin only graded the top category hotels. Good hotels that would have made it in a European Red Michelin guide didn't make it in this one). It would have been nice if the survey had extended its reach to Monterey... Well it might be that the limitations were due to the fact that it is their first year in the Bay area, maybe next year all the places that would deserve to be in the Michelin, will be in the Michelin...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use, but limited scope and Francocentric, August 12, 2007

By 

The Belgo "lebelgo" (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Michelin Red Guide San Francisco 2007: Bay Area and Wine Country (Michelin Red Guides) (Paperback)

What I like about this book is that it's very user-friendly, especially for the City itself. The reader can quickly glance through a neighborhood, and readily find the restaurants' basic price category, food category, "fanciness" (or "category" as they put it), phone number, fax, website, hours/days open, and location on a map. For those of us used to the European guides, this guide goes into far more detail than the European ones--whole paragraphs describe each restaurant and hotel.
The long descriptions, however, seem to hide the fact that this guide is very limited in scope. I feel it's a bit much to say that this is a "Bay Area" guide when only 16 pages (each describing only one or two restaurants) are devoted to the entire East Bay, for example. There are a million people living in Contra Costa County, and 1 1/2 million living in Alameda County, yet only two cities in that entire region are discussed: Oakland and Berkeley. There are also only two hotels listed in this area: the Claremont and the Washington Inn in Oakland. For areas south of San Francisco, only three hotels are mentioned, all in San Jose, and only two in Marin county: Casa Madrona and the Inn Above the Tide, both in Sausalito.
My other major beef with this guide is its Franco-centric opinions. I went to the Bistro Jeanty in Yountville based on its receiving a Michelin Star. Having lived in France for over 4 years, the food there certainly did remind me of a meal one might find in a country restaurant in the south of France. The recipes there were quite standard, however, and the quality of the ingredients nothing to write home about. No way did I find the food there as good as that of Domaine Chandon in the same town. Not only are the menu items at D.C. more unique and obviously carefully tested by trained chefs, but the quality of the ingredients at Domaine Chandon is also superior. I do not even consider the food quality of those two places to be in the same class. Other unstarred restaurants in the area which I considered to be substantially better than Bistro Jeanty include Brix, Mustards Grill, and Tra Vigne. Just because they serve California or Italian cuisine rather than French does not make them inferior.
I should also mention the guide's most famous controversy: giving Chez Pannise (California cuisine) only one star. This restaurant is widely regarded by multiple food critics as one of the best restaurants in the country. The only restaurant deemed worthy of three stars is called... hmm... French Laundry.
I hope subsequent editions broaden the scope of coverage, and also broaden the idea of what constitutes quality cuisine, since I do like the format of the guide. Good quality isn't measured by how closely the food resembles French cooking. And there are two and a half million of us living on the other side of the Bay with lots of good restaurants. "Bay Area" refers to more than the City and wine country...