Local picks on 2015 Michelin Bib Gourmand list

What about Manresa in 2014?

I assume "local" means within the readership of this newspaper (Woodside, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View).

Nine Silicon Valley restaurants earned Michelin stars last year: Web Link

@resident:

In the case of this article, I think "local" fancy restaurant could be anything along the mid-Peninsula (i.e., within reasonable driving distance) rather than specifically within strict city limits of certain communities, since people often are willing to go a little out of their way for a special dining experience.

Of course, everyone's interpretation of "local" is a little different and sometimes context or situation calls for an adjustment of a definition (just like many other words). A slightly looser interpretation of "local" seems to be in play here.

@Alex:

It is probable that Manresa will be passed up for 2014. They suffered a fire and are currently closed.

I was indeed looking at more local restaurants within our three newspapers' coverage areas, but Jay Park is absolutely right that of course, diners are not bound by the borders of the cities we cover!

It will be interesting to see what happens with Manresa. Web Link

Note that this column is all about the Michelin "Bib Gourmand" category, which is restaurants recommended for a specific type of moderately-priced good-value meal.

High-end Bay Area places such as TFL, Meadowood, and Manresa often do not qualify for Bib Gourmand consideration, because their menu options do not fit its definition.

BTW Manresa is expecting to reopen at year's end.

. . . and Jay Park need not have worried. Two hours after my last comment yesterday came the "Star" announcements, and Manresa kept its two, as the Chron explains in more detail: Web Link

Please also note that, whereas Michelin plays up the "Bib Gourmand" and "Star" lists online -- and journalists and bloggers obligingly chatter away about those, thus helping to promote sales of the actual book -- those lists reflect only a few percent of the total information available in the Michelin Guide. I've found the Guide valuable when traveling to its home turf, and often bought the SF edition since it first appeared eight years ago. It's a serious resource for learning about Bay Area restaurants from a reasonably consistent, professional reviewers' perspective. It has helped to promote some excellent peninsula restaurants at all price levels (such as the Bamboo Garden, a family-run Shanghainese restaurant in Mountain View) by including them in the selection of Bay Area restaurants chosen for attention in the Guide. Most of which do not receive "stars" or "Bib Gourmand," so if you look JUST at those special subcategories, and the Academy-Award-type chatter they generate, you miss out on the vast majority of the valuable information in the printed Guide, useful for ordinary folks seeking good food and value.

How embarassing for Chez TJ...still no second star

The One Hundred Foot Journey, Anyone?