Los Angeles’s City of Angels has a lot to offer. From a delicious food scene to the incredible fine arts culture, Los Angeles takes pride in their diversity, community, and opportunity. In fact, many people that choose to live here in LA feel a great sense of pride in their city. After all, Los Angeles is one of the few places in the world where people from all over can come to see their dreams put into reality, achieve their lifelong goals, and reach their ultimate potential. Leading with creativity, innovation, culture, and experience, Los Angeles is brimming with opportunity for those willing to reach out and grab it. It’s what sets our City of Angels apart from the rest.
While many actors, artists, performers, and other creatives find their place in Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods like the famous Beverly Hills, there is one fine art scene that provides an experience unlike any other: the food scene. Known for their incredibly diverse cuisine options, many infamous chefs from around the world start their restaurants right here in Los Angeles, providing the community with an art form you can experience all through your plate. What’s more is right next door, you can enjoy a wide variety of Michelin Star Restaurants, right in Beverly Hills. Click here to read more about the top restaurants in Beverly Hills.
As the food scene gains popularity, and competition gets stiff, there are a few worth noting that are rising above the rest. Achieving a Michelin star restaurant in Los Angeles is no easy task as most restaurants work for years before they see that shiny star. With a new year underway, there are a few restaurants that are making big waves in LA. While LA does not have any three star Michelin restaurants as of now, these two star restaurants may be on the verge of that golden three. Here are the top three Michelin star restaurants in the beautiful city of Los Angeles.
Somni
View this post on Instagram
First on the list is Somni, an incredible restaurant making big waves in the food scene. In fact, they are new to the Michelin list, having been awarded two Michelin stars only last year. Started by Spanish native chefs, Aitor Zabala and José Andrés, Somni can be translated to “dream” in Catalan (1). Somni takes pride in its extremely immersive, multi-sensory food experience imagined by some of the finest chefs in Los Angeles. Rated by Forbes as a five star dining experience, this two star Michelin restaurant only seat ten people at a long counter where they can watch the chef’s perform their art. The goal in this was to take away the barrier of the kitchen and dining space to fully immerse guests in the process and creativity that goes into each meal.
The menu is constantly evolving with new items and currently holds more than 20 different plates. The menu starts off with deliciously playful appetizers and progresses into a brilliant 20 course meal of meticulously experimental foods. The plates are often inspired by either fond memories or wild adventures, but infamous Chef Zabala and his time have quite a way of researching and developing foods outside the norm. It is truly a one of a kind experience, and is well on its way to earning its third star.
Interested in giving it a try? Getting in to this two star Dream may not be as hard as you think (although you will have to wait a few weeks). Dining tickets are available via Tock on the first Monday of each month for a reservation for the following month. They are only open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:45 – 8:00pm.
Providence
View this post on Instagram
With over a decade in food experience right here in Los Angeles, Providence provides guests with a unique standard of modern American seafood (2). The head chef, Chef Michael Cimarusti, has a deep passion for fish. In fact, he respects the pristine state of a great fish so highly, that any additional ingredients must be carefully tested and worked into the meal to earn its spot on the plate. With careful precision and understanding of flavors, Chef Michael Cimarusti creates an exceptional experience unlike any other through incredible seafood plates all representing different regions of the world. He works to lead the restaurant with sustainability, only harvesting wild-caught fish from American waters. From there, he highlights their finest qualities, and pairs it with complimentary ingredients to bring out the best possible flavors with his uncompromising and sophisticated techniques.
The restaurant has earned quite the reputation and has been included in publications such as Gourmet magazine’s “Top 50 Restaurants in the United States” and Los Angeles magazine’s “Best Seafood Restaurant”. They also have received the #1 ranking spot on “Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants” list in the Los Angeles Times, a James Beard Award, and of course, the highly coveted two Michelin stars. The restaurant features both a lunch and dinner menu that is constantly changing and updated based on regions, fish available, and old memories. While the restaurant is currently closed due to pandemic, they are still open for curbside pickup and take out. In fact, they are creating a new menu each work specifically for this experience. So, if you have ever been interested in trying this Michelin star gem, now is the time!
Urasawa
View this post on Instagram
Last on the list is Urasawa, one of the finest sushi restaurants in the world. This two star Michelin dining experience is located right in the heart of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County (3). It is run by head chef, Hiroyuki Urasawa, who previously studied under Masa Takayama – a star Japanese sushi chef. Masa Takayama previously owned Ginza Sushi-ko, his first restaurant in LA. The restaurant was a wild success, which pushed Chef Takayama to move to New York where he opened his own restaurant called Masa in the Time Warner Center. He left the restaurant to protégé Chef Urasawa who renamed it after himself. The legacy lives on as Urasawa is one of the best, most highly regarded restaurants in the city, and is well on their way to that triple star. In fact, they are the second most expensive restaurant in the world behind Sublimotion at $1,100 per person.
The menu is a 30 course omakase menu, which is a phrase commonly used when ordering sushi that translates “I’ll leave it up to you”. This means that there are no menus, but rather, the chef will create a specialized meal just for you, keeping track of your reactions to the food to tailor each course specifically for you – a signature trait picked up by Chef Takayama. What’s more is the 30 course menu changes daily, so no two dining experiences will ever be the same. This highly regarded restaurant can take months to get in to with only a limited amount of seating, but let us assure you that your dining experience will be well worth the wait.
