California’s culinary scene has once again taken center stage on the global map, with the recent release of the 2025 MICHELIN Guide California — a treasure trove for discerning travelers from the GCC and wider Middle East seeking exceptional dining experiences in one of the world’s most aspirational destinations.

This year’s ceremony was filled with celebration as two new Three Starred restaurants joined the list with Providence in Hollywood promoted from Two Stars and Somni in West Hollywood entering the selection with Three Stars.

The excitement continued with Enclos in Sonoma entering the selection with Two Stars and Kiln in San Francisco being promoted from One Star to Two Stars. The 2025 selection also welcomed five new One Starred restaurants, bringing the state’s total to 65.

Additionally, two new MICHELIN Green Stars were awarded to Enclos and Sons & Daughters in San Francisco recognizing California’s championing of sustainability in gastronomy, aligning with the Arabian Gulf countries’ growing interest in eco-conscious luxury and culinary travel.

The full selection, including Bib Gourmands and recommended restaurants totals 548 eateries across the state, spanning 55 cuisine types.

From West Hollywood glamour to the rolling vineyards of Sonoma and the Napa Valley, the MICHELIN-starred restaurants of California offer authentic, inspirational and home-grown sourced culinary experiences that can best be enjoyed as a foodie road trip across all regions of the state.  Many feature seafood-focused menus, vegetarian fine dining and the flexibility to accommodate halal requests. Private dining rooms and chef’s tables also provide extra exclusivity and privacy sought by many high-profile Middle Eastern guests.

The MICHELIN Guide’s 2025 California selection is complemented by MICHELIN Key Hotels — a hand-picked collection of the world’s most stylish and service-driven stays. With 7 Three Key hotels, 18 Two Key hotels and 31 One Key hotels all located in California, the Golden State has the most Key hotels in all of the United States. These luxury properties offer spacious suites, serene spa sanctuaries, and personalized guest services, making them ideal for GCC and Middle Eastern travellers seeking comfort, privacy and world-class hospitality.

Below are the newly awarded and elevated MICHELIN Star restaurants, with Inspector notes from each (Inspectors’ comments in full on the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile app):

Three MICHELIN Stars

Providence (Hollywood; Seafood cuisine)

As has been the case since opening in 2005, purity and precision are the underpinnings of Chef Michael Cimarusti’s California cooking; and his cuisine has grown even more impressive over the years. The tasting menu blends classic technique with a modern sensibility, global inspiration, and sources the freshest and most sustainable seafood, often wild-caught from American waters. At no point during the meal will you doubt its impeccable quality, especially while savoring dishes such as a tart of lobster mousse and box crab set in a crab beurre blanc, or roasted monkfish with cauliflower and shaved black truffles. Longstanding signatures like the soft-poached egg with uni and breadcrumbs or salt-roasted Santa Barbara spot prawns make for luxurious add-ons.

Somni (West Hollywood; Contemporary cuisine)

Chef Aitor Zabala and his dedicated team have awakened Somni, or “dream” from a long sleep and have fashioned this revamped iteration as a distinctly personal and unique dining experience. Tucked away just off Santa Monica Ave., the dining room’s soothing, creamy palette with light wood and glass is marked by a colorful bull’s head from the original spot, hinting at the Spanish-inflected cuisine. A procession of small bites is meticulously arranged and endlessly creative, sating diners with an abundance of rich flavors and textural interplay (think mussel escabeche, gazpacho, or the iconic shiso tartare tempura). All the while, the kitchen and service teams are in lockstep as they create and serve these arresting dishes.

Two MICHELIN Stars

Enclos (Sonoma; Contemporary cuisine)

Concealed inside an 1880 Victorian on the Stone Edge Farm Winery property, once inside this glittering workshop, guests enter a rarified realm. An opulent tasting menu marries global flavors, refined technique, and exceptional ingredients, including produce sourced from their two farms, all shot through with subtle nods to Chef Brian Limoges’s New England roots. Take, for example, a clever “lobster roll” croustade made up of spiny lobster tartare in a crisp shell, or a clam chawanmushi that subtly evokes the flavor of chowder. The fireworks continue through to dessert, where a breathtaking sorrel ice cream is decorated with edible leaves flavored with makrut lime and pomegranate. All the while, diners will find the staff effortlessly charming, making the experience all the more magical.

Kiln (San Francisco; Contemporary cuisine)

Industry veterans Chef John Wesley and general manager Julianna Yang have combined their talents at Kiln, where the warehouse space is warmed by personable service and the kitchen delivers artful creations. The tasting menu leans Nordic, highlighting preservation techniques like curing, drying and fermentation in dishes whose simplicity is belied by intricate techniques and compelling flavor combinations. The creative energy is consistent throughout the meal, offering plenty to impress guests. Opening snacks like a crispy curlicue of puffed beef tendon captures this ethos, while others, like a squab breast lacquered with burnt honey and served with a truffled jus, display a classical bent.

One MICHELIN Star

Lilo (Carlsbad; Californian cuisine)

Good things often come in small packages, and it’s certainly true of Lilo, where guests are welcomed to a moveable feast beginning on the heated patio with an array of small bites before moving into the petite dining room. Chef Eric Bost and his team take clear pride in providing an extra level of care in their dishes, evidenced in plates like dry-aged Japanese kinmedai paired with a ragout of geoduck and bone marrow or 40-day dry-aged beef ribeye with preserved gurumelo mushrooms, seaweed, and bordelaise. Halfway through, the dishes shift from savory to sweet for a one-off orgeat ice cream topped with celery root bushi and Ossetra cavia and later concludes with a myriad of desserts like sweet cream gelato topped with hoja santa and finger lime.

Mori Nozomi (Los Angeles; Sushi/Japanese cuisine)

Chef Nozomi Mori’s sushi counter stands apart from the pack, both for its excellent sushi and for its hospitable staff in the front and back of house. Plan in advance to visit this special spot, where there are just eight seats at the wood counter. While the fish is flown in several times a week from Japan, local, seasonal produce is worked into nearly every dish. Even the smallest details matter here, as evidenced by the Japanese ice imported for use in their five-course tea pairing. Begin with a number of dishes, like chawanmushi with gingko nuts, before enjoying the well-executed nigiri. Mochi accompanied by matcha prepared by the chef herself is an elegant final act.

Restaurant Ki (Los Angelese; Korean Contemporary cuisine)

You’ll need to read the instructions sent ahead of time to find the entrance to Chef Ki Kim’s restaurant, but any navigation woes are quickly put to rest once you’re inside this ten-seat spot. The contemporary Korean tasting menu pulls in global influences, and meals begin with a few bites such as shirako gimbap, a shell filled with truffle rice and diced kimchi, or crispy, tender octopus in a creamy sauce with octopus head and gochujang. Charred sugar snap peas with stillhead trout roe and tuna or creamy pasta made with perilla seed and topped with fresh winter truffle display a creative flair. Main dishes include the likes of barbecue roasted squab with foie gras sauce, and 45-day dry-aged dairy cow with golden beet jus and Korean bone broth. A mushroom ice cream sandwich seals the deal.

Silvers Omakase (Santa Barbara; Sushi/Japanese cuisine)

With just a handful of seats and a small staff, this omakase from Chef Lennon Silvers Lee is ever-changing. Some things change daily, while others change weekly, but one thing you can always expect is well-executed dishes made with rice from Japan that is milled in house, and fish that is sourced both locally and from Japan and then dry aged. Arrive early and enjoy a glass of sparkling wine before being called in, as all guests are seated and served at the same time. Enjoy one or two small dishes before a parade of nigiri, which may include hamachi, shima aji, as well as bluefin tuna. Their uni rice is deliciously mixed with wasabi and topped with masago arare for a bit of crunch, marking the end of the savory dishes before a dessert of sorbet made in house.

Sun Moon Studio (Oakland; Californian cuisine)

A slightly clandestine air still prevails outside this inconspicuous little spot, but the secret is out: the handful of seats inside are hotly in demand. Chefs Alan Hsu and Sarah Cooper have both worked in some of the country’s most celebrated kitchens, but here channel their talents on a more intimate scale. Their shared vision emerges in a mercurial seasonal tasting menu that dutifully celebrates the wealth of Californian ingredients, spanning squab to rockfish and wild mushrooms to citrus. The style is pared down and technically precise, letting products shine while adding a spark of personality, as in Dungeness crab with yuzu kosho butter, perched over silken tofu. Baked items like savory egg tarts with salmon roe, or steamed brioche buns enclosing Taiwanese sausage, are highlights.

MICHELIN Green Star

Enclos (Sonoma; Contemporary cuisine)

Initiatives: locally sourced organic produce via nearby culinary gardens; sustainable/regenerative practices in garden; carbon negative and energy independent operations; fallen trees repurposed into chopsticks and serving trays; waste is minimized through preservation and fermentation.

Sons & Daughters (San Francisco; Contemporary cuisine)

Initiatives: food sourced through local eco-conscious farmers, fisherman and ranchers; in-house dairy program resulting in their own butter, creme fraiche, fresh cheese and yogurt; source aprons, plates and woodwork from local ceramicists and artisans.

Bib Gourmand

The MICHELIN Guide Inspectors gave 123 restaurants the Bib Gourmand distinction, which recognizes eateries for great food at a great value.

Hotels

The restaurants join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay in California and throughout the world.

Each hotel in the selection has been chosen by MICHELIN Guide experts for its extraordinary style, service and personality — with options for all budgets — and each can be booked directly through the MICHELIN Guide website and app. The selection for California features the state’s most spectacular hotels, including Canyon Ranch Woodside (three MICHELIN Keys) nestled among giant redwoods on the San Francisco Peninsula, the Bernadus Lodge & Spa (two MICHELIN Keys) located in Carmel Valley and home to its own vineyard, or the Georgian (one MICHELIN Key), a rare piece of Old Hollywood glamour in modern Santa Monica.

The MICHELIN Guide is a world benchmark in gastronomy and hospitality. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection, and book an unforgettable Californian Ultimate Foodie Playground experience.

The 2025 MICHELIN Guide California Overview:

(Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey)	8
(Excellent cuisine, worth a detour)	14
(High quality cooking, worth a stop)	65
(Restaurant sustainability leaders)	17
Bib Gourmands (Good food at moderate price)	123
Recommended restaurants	338
Total number of restaurants in selection	548
Cuisine types reflected in Starred restaurants	19
Cuisine types reflected in Bib Gourmands	34
Cuisine types reflected in selection	55

For more information about experiencing California as the ultimate playground for food lovers, visit: Visit California – Official Travel & Tourism Website