Michelin carves up Bay Area's best

Inspectors were frugal with their accolades, granting the top, three-star rating to only one spot, The French Laundry restaurant run by chef Thomas Keller in the Napa Valley town of Yountville.

Of the rest of the 356 restaurants listed, four got two stars and 23 got one star.

The French Laundry rating was the second Michelin nod for Chef Thomas Keller, whose Per Se restaurant in New York received three stars when Michelin put out its first New York edition last fall. A third Keller restaurant, Bouchon, also in Yountville, was honored in the new guide as well, getting one star.

"It’s just an incredible day,” said Keller, who was in the kitchen with French Laundry staff when he got the call from Michelin Monday morning. With a full day ahead, the celebration had to be a bit muted for the moment. "We had coffee,” he said.

"Today is like yesterday as relates to guests are coming in and we need to clean the foie gras and we need to prepare the fish,” Keller said. But, "now everybody’s doing it with a really big smile on their face.”

Michelin began as a tire company and the first guide, published in 1900, gave drivers information on where to service cars, stay and eat. Since then, the guide has grown to cover more than 20 countries and is a gastronomical authority for European connoisseurs.

Getting into the guide is good. Getting stars is better. Three mean "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey,” two indicate "excellent cooking, worth a detour” and one signals "a very good restaurant in its category.”

Some had expected higher ratings for an area known as a foodie magnet.

"I was surprised that there weren’t some other restaurants with the top rating,” said Paul Franson, a wine country writer and author of the weekly Napa Life newsletter.

Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guide, noted that just being in the guide is a recommendation and said five inspectors visited about 1,000 restaurants, including follow-ups, for almost a year to come up with the rankings.

The inspectors’ work included calling incognito to get the notoriously hard-to-get reservations at the 15-table French Laundry, a task that is not likely to get any easier with the new ratings.

Among the restaurants receiving one star was Chez Panisse, the celebrated Berkeley restaurant that revolutionized the American restaurant scene with its emphasis on fresh, locally produced ingredients.

The Michelin Guide San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country 2007 will be in stores Wednesday.

How SF-area restaurants fared in Michelin rankings

Three stars (Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey)

The French Laundry, Yountville

Two stars (Excellent cooking, worth a detour)

Aqua, San Francisco

Michael Mina, San Francisco

Manresa, Los Gatos

Cyrus, Healdsburg

One star (A very good restaurant in its category)

Fleur de Lys, San Francisco

Rubicon, San Francisco

Bushi-Tei, San Francisco

Quince, San Francisco

Range, San Francisco

Acquerello, San Francisco

La Folie, San Francisco

Masa’s, San Francisco

Ritz-Carlton Dining Room,

San Francisco

Gary Danko, San Francisco

Boulevard, San Francisco

Fifth Floor, San Francisco

Chez Panisse, Berkeley

Sushi-Ran, Sausalito

Chez TJ, Mountain View

Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford

Bistro Jeanty, Yountville

Bouchon, Yountville

La Toque, Rutherford

Terra, St. Helena

Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg

Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Forestville

K&L Bistro, Sebastopol<