Four San Diego Restaurants Receive Highly-Coveted Michelin Star Honors

September 28, 2021

French tire company and publisher of popular culinary guidebooks, Michelin has announced its selection of star recipients for the 2021 Michelin Guide California, and four San Diego restaurants have received highly-coveted Michelin Star honors.

In March 2019, Michelin announced a partnership with state tourism board Visit California that would result in an unprecedented expansion of the Michelin Guide (for the price of a reported $600,000), with the announcement of the release of the first statewide-focused Michelin Guide California 2019. The Michelin Red Guide is the oldest hotel and restaurant reference guide and awards establishments up to three Michelin stars for excellence. The 2020 Michelin Guide California was skipped due to the coronavirus pandemic but returned this year with both new and old honorees awarded Michelin stars, Bib Gourmand recognitions, and mentions. 

Last week, Michelin released its newest selections of value-oriented Bib Gourmand establishments for California, which five San Diego restaurants to add to the eight that received Bibs in 2019. Introduced in 1997, the Michelin Bib Gourmand category highlights restaurants that serve high-quality meals which include two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less per person. The Bib Gourmand announcements comes after a recent recognition of five San Diego "culinary gems" - Little Frenchie, Callie, Animae, Fort Oak, and Menya Ultra. Michelin also recently named eight local eateries as "Best Mexican Restaurants in San Diego".

Today Michelin announced its star-recipients for Michelin Guide California 2021, which will be released in print form for purchase in the coming weeks. One star indicates a very good restaurant in its category, while two stars means the restaurant has excellent cooking worth a detour. Top honors of three stars are given only to restaurants with exceptional cuisine "worth a special journey". 

2 Michelin Star Chef William Bradley of Addison

For the 2021 edition, three San Diego restaurants have been awarded Michelin Star honors - Addison Del Mar has received two stars, Jeune and Jolie in Carlsbad has received one star, and both Soichi Sushi in University Heights and Sushi Tadokoro in Old Town have received one star. In 2019, Addison at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar was the sole San Diego restaurant to receive a Michelin Star, receiving one.

"As an international culinary destination and leader in the industry, California continues to impress MICHELIN Guide inspectors with a commitment to sustainable gastronomy and creative cuisine," said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the MICHELIN Guides. "We are delighted to celebrate 19 promotions for restaurants that elevated their quality and consistency despite the challenges of the health crisis, and welcome eight new entries to our selection at the star level.”

Chef William Bradley opened Addison at what is now the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in 2006 and the restaurant was quickly regarded as the top spot for French fine dining in all of San Diego. Addison offers a luxurious dining experience that reflects Bradley's approach to the craft of cooking with superlative, personalized service led by Maitre D’ Sean McGinness. The 80-seat dining room is a sophisticated setting for Bradley's nine-course tasting menu, which showcases and preserves the integrity of seasonal and world-class ingredients. Dishes such as Alaskan King Crab, Confit of Sturgeon, Pigeon Rôti and Vacherin D'été reveal the purity of his masterful style with elements of surprise interwoven throughout. Named for Addison Mizner, a famed architect whose approach was inspired by the decorative arts of Spain, Portugal, Venice and Morocco, the restaurant's design showcases his influence.

Jeune et Jolie owner John Resnick and Chef Eric Bost

Founded by owner John Resnick and his longtime friend and chef Andrew Bachelier, who opened hit woodfire-based restaurant Campfire in 2016, Jeune Et Joie is a contemporary French-style bistro that debuted in late 2018. Located only 400 feet up the street from Campfire, Jeune Et Jolie, which means "young and beautiful" in French and also pays homage to Resnick and Bachelier's daughters' middle names (Elsie June Resnick and Margot Jolie Bachelier), the eatery offers a seasonal French-fusion menu based around locally grown ingredients, as well as a raw bar with a focus on oysters. Jeune et Jolie was awarded a highly coveted Bib Gourmand honoration in the 2019 Michelin Guide California. In July 2020, Chef Bachelier split with the two popular Carlsbad restaurants he helped found - Campfire & Jeune et Jolie - and is now in the process of opening a gastropub in Encinitas in partnership with skateboard icon Tony Hawk. Since August 2020, longtime Los Angeles chef Eric Bost has been leading the kitchen at Jeune et Jolie. 

Chef Soichi Kadoyo of San Diego's Soichi Sushi

Soichi Sushi was opened in University Heights in 2019 by Soichi Kadoya, who was a longtime sushi chef at fellow San Diego Michelin star recipient Sushi Tadokoro. Soichi offers an intimate and exclusive Japanese fine dining experience centered around omakase service - a dining option where patrons leave their order up to the chef - derived from the Japanese word that means "to entrust".

Chef and owner Takeaki Tadokoro founded his namesake restaurant in San Diego's Old Town in November 2012. The 28-seat Japanese restaurant presents Tadokoro's take on Edo-mae-style offerings with unique nigiri inspired by Ginza's elegant sushi restaurants.

Established in 1900 by the French tire company, the Michelin guide was started to inspire travel in order to increase the demand for cars and, thus, car tires. It has become a touted resource for upscale diners with restaurants around the globe vying for a coveted star rating, which usually results in drastically increased business and reputation. Michelin publishes more than 30 guides annually in more than 24 countries, including four cities featured in the United States - San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C. The San Francisco edition has been incorporated into the new California-exclusive guide.

For more information on the Michelin Guide, including a full list of star recipients from all around California, visit guide.michelin.com, and check out the Michelin Inspector's write ups for each San Diego award winner below.

Addison (San Diego – promotion from one MICHELIN Star) - Chef William Bradley continues to flaunt his impressive skills at this iconic, standard-setting dining room, and his talents are more tangible now than ever before. Addison's menu retains the chef’s signatures while constantly evolving. 

Jeune et Jolie (San Diego – New one MICHELIN Star) - Partner John Resnick and Executive Chef Eric Bost are behind this very appealing and well-orchestrated French restaurant oozing with style and elegance at every turn. This cooking displays a mature direction, with solid ingredients, unique combinations and beautiful presentations. 

Soichi (San Diego – Promotion from New Discovery) - Named for Chef Soichi Kadoya, who honed his skills at Old Town's Sushi Tadokoro, this intimate Japanese restaurant has quickly made a name for itself in University Heights. Sushi leans straightforward, but it's impressive and flaunts much skill. 

Sushi Tadokoro (San Diego – Promotion from New Discovery) - Chef and owner Tadokoro along with young chef, Tatsuro Tsuchiya, take great pleasure in providing diners with a delightful dining experience. Attention to detail is a hallmark, as sauces are homemade and the fish of the day rests within a wood box awaiting very special treatment.