Culinary ambitions heat up as Michelin comes to town
By the end of the summer, San Diego plans to join the elite group of cities in the state of California — so far, only San Francisco — to feature Michelin-rated restaurants.
Earlier this year, Michelin, an internationally-recognized culinary rating system, and Visit California together announced they’d be releasing a one-of-a-kind guide that would cover select cities throughout the state. The “Michelin Guide California 2019” will include San Diego, as well as Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Barbara.
Mike Georgopoulos, managing partner at RMD Group, a San Diego-based restaurants and nightlife management, consulting and development company, said having Michelin-rated restaurants in the city will benefit the entire industry.
“It’s really exciting for San Diego and speaks to the level of growth we have had in food and cocktail programs,” he said. “There are many fine, young and established chefs here who are excited about the opportunity and spotlight that Michelin will bring to this market. All of those will be great for San Diego diners and the food scene in general.”
RMD Group is in the process of opening up a Japanese-inspired rooftop called Lumi, which will be run by two-time Michelin-starred chef Akira Back. Georgopoulos said, although his objective in partnering with Back wasn’t to obtain a Michelin star necessarily, if the restaurant did win the notorious rating, “it would be a real honor for our team.”