Rating: 94. Daniel Patterson (b. 1969) is an East Coast boy who started working in kitchens in Massachusetts when he was 14 years old. In 1989 he dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco. For no particular reason, he says in his 2013 book "Coi" and it took him many years to learn to love the people and the place. In rural Sonoma, where he moved in 1991, he grew his knowledge of nature and p...

Rating: 97. After working for Thomas Keller at his restaurants The French Laundry and Per Se for almost a decade, Corey Lee struck out on his own in 2010 with Benu restaurant in San Francisco's SoMa district. Corey Lee had already earned his spurs as Chef de Cuisine at The French Laundry for 5 years, and he quickly climbed the Michelin ladder with his own restaurant. Benu debuted with two Michelin stars i...

Rating: 96. Dominique Crenn is the chef/owner of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. Atelier Crenn opened its doors in January 2011 and that same year in October, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star (2012 guide). The second star followed the next year (2013 guide), making her the first female chef in the U.S. to receive 2 Michelin stars. Dominique Crenn is originally from Brittany (in the extreme west of F...

Rating: 98. Michelin awarded only five restaurants world-wide a third star last year, three of which are located in the United States: Grace in Chicago and Benu and Saison in San Francisco. The other two were La Bouitte in France and Makimura in Japan. Saison and Benu are San Francisco's first ever three-star restaurants. The story of Saison in San Francisco is short but fascinating. Basically the restaur...