One star. A surprise entrant, Shin Sushi is one of two Michelin star restaurants in the San Fernando Valley, the other being Pasta Bar in Encino. Taketoshi Azami is the lead sushi chef behind the counter at this somewhat hidden destination.

One star for Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee’s tasting menu restaurant in Encino serves a well-executed array of dishes, with pasta as the main focus.

One star for Morihiro Onodera, who founded Mori Sushi in West LA, and bounced around at various locations before settling at this Atwater Village sushi temple.

One star for Minh Phan’s inventive and ethereal LA-inspired tasting menu in Hollywood.

Two stars. Providence’s two stars have got to feel pretty good for Michael Cimarusti, especially being fresh off of a James Beard Foundation Award win for Best Chef: West in 2019. A classic seafood-oriented tasting menu with fantastic service along Melrose Avenue.

One star. While skewing slightly upscale, Osteria Mozza from Nancy Silverton is far from fussy. This Italian staple offers pasta, roasted meats, and one heck of a mozzarella bar.

Two stars. This chain sushi restaurant keeps high standards all over the globe, earning two stars for their La Cienega location this time around.

One star for Massimo Bottura’s outpost of Gucci Osteria in Beverly Hills, which serves fancy pasta and other Italian fare at sky-high prices.

One star. Wolfgang Puck’s inimitable steakhouse CUT serves some of the top meats in town from a lavish white tablecloth kind of space in Beverly Hills.

One star. Chef Curtis Stone’s original vision for Maude has, over the years, flowed into something more, with rotating menus that focus on particular regions from around the world. Currently on hiatus as Pie Room, a casual Australian-style savory and sweet pie shop. Maude plans to return to its tasting menu format in the future.

One star. Longtime LA chef Gary Menes takes his locavore approach seriously, growing much of the menu for this vegetable-focused Koreatown restaurant himself. Currently closed with no plans to reopen announced yet.

One star. Yet again, more love for LA’s many sushi masters at work. A rarefied omakase with the high price to match.

One star for David Schlosser’s kappo-style restaurant in Downtown LA.

Two stars. Hayato hit the scene hard in 2018, earning loads of praise from critics and the media thanks to its small, tucked-away space and elevated Japanese fare. Now Brandon Go’s kaiseki experience is one of the top restaurants in the city, according to Michelin.

One star. Long a stalwart of the LA sushi scene, Mori retains its accolades thanks to the Michelin dining team.

Two stars. Niki Nakayama and partner Carol Iida-Nakayama have retained two stars for their Palms kaiseki restaurant incorporating traditional Japanese tasting menus with California ingredients.

The luxury hasn’t left the building at Mélisse, Santa Monica’s stalwart white table cloth experience known for its wine, caviar, and picture-perfect cooking from chef Josiah Citrin’s team. Mélisse has earned (and kept) its stars for years now, even through the pandemic and the bifurcation of its classic space to add Citrin, a sister project under the same roof.

Two stars. Perhaps the most polarizing restaurant in LA, Vespertine goes out if its way to shroud in secrecy, to confuse, delight, and push the boundaries of what eating a meal even looks like.

Shunji Nakao’s one-star omakase restaurant has reopened, albeit with just takeout to start, with plans to open its dining room some time in October 2021. The veteran sushi chef serves some of the highest quality fish to LA.

Sushi I-Naba earns the South Bay’s first-ever Michelin star serving mostly takeaway omakase, though before the pandemic, the difficult-to-find sushi counter prepared some of the finest Japanese fish in LA.

One star. Congrats to chef Carlos Salgado and the team for their continued work, representing not only Orange County but as the only Mexican restaurant in LA/OC in the Southern California Michelin Guide.

One star for Orange County’s French tasting menu restaurant Knife Pleat from Tony Esnault and Yassmin Sarmadi, who were previously operators of Church and State in the Arts District.