San Francisco’s Dominique Crenn made history when she became the first female Chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. Michelin changed the status of Crenn’s Bay Area restaurant, Atelier Crenn, from two stars to the coveted perfect three stars in late November 2018. The Michelin guide described Atelier Crenn as possessing a “wonderful balance of grace, artistry, technical ability and taste.”

By awarding Atelier Crenn a third star, Michelin brought the total number of three star restaurants in San Francisco up to eight. This makes the Bay Area the place in the United States with the most restaurants to have earned three Michelin stars.

With the promotion of Atelier Crenn to three stars, Dominique Crenn has both a three star and a one star restaurant. Her wine bar, Bar Crenn, is known for its French cuisine and earned a one star rating for Michelin’s 2019 guide. The guide described the restaurant as a “charming wine bar with a focus on classic French cuisine… quality and technique are the backbone of the beautiful dining room where dishes from renowned French chefs, as well as original creations, are expertly presented.”

Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guides said, “The teams at Atelier Crenn and SingleThread [another California restaurant recently promoted to three stars] should be extremely proud, as our inspectors were very impressed by the quality of the produce used in the preparation of the dishes. This, along with their meticulous attention to detail, creativity and dedication to delighting their customers means they always offer diners a memorable and very pleasurable gastronomic experience. Without a doubt, they are definitely worth a special journey!”

The Michelin stars are not the first time her incredible talent in the kitchen has been recognized. Crenn had previously earned San Pellegrino’s World’s Best Female Chef award in 2016 though she said she considered refusing the award because it was specifically for women. She did, however, decide to accept it and has since risen to even further heights. San Francisco is no doubt happy to have her!