The front of the restaurant Commis is photographed in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
The Michelin Guide International has dropped a surprise announcement:
For the first time, its annual California stars ceremony to honor restaurant excellence will be held not in recent host city Los Angeles or perennial host city San Francisco but in Oakland — a city renowned for innovative culinary concepts but home to a single Michelin-starred restaurant, the two-star Commis.
The star-studded event will be held, appropriately, at the Chabot astronomy center. The scheduled date is July 18, about seven months after the last ceremony.
The news was slipped Tuesday into one of the guide’s occasional lists of restaurants that have impressed the Michelin inspectors:
“These establishments are highlighted as “New” on guide.michelin.com to help food lovers enjoy new discoveries before the full selection is revealed July 18 at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland. During the Michelin Guide Ceremony, chefs and restaurant teams will learn in real time whether their establishments have received culinary distinctions such as Michelin Stars, Bib Gourmands or other professional award distinctions. The event is by invitation only.”
A Michelin spokesman said it’s not unusual for Guide ceremonies to happen anywhere from six to 18 months after the last one. “For California, we’re trying to get to where the event falls in the summertime and return to a normal cadence,” he said.
This is a developing story; come back for updates.
Originally published at Linda Zavoral