Campton Place Restaurant Awarded Michelin Star

The announcement was made to Campton Place Executive Chef Srijith Gopinathan, who is also one of five chefs selected to prepare for the publication's launch party. This is the third time MICHELIN Guide has included Campton Place Restaurant in its annual publication.

Campton Place Restaurant has been a favorite culinary destination for locals and visitors alike for more than 25 years, launching the careers of notable chefs including Bradley Ogden, Jan Birnbaum, Laurent Manrique and Daniel Humm. Continuing the culinary journey, chef Srijith Gopinathan has masterfully created new menus bringing a distinctive palate to San Francisco. Combining local California Cuisine and gentle Spice Route overtones, Chef Sri uses only the freshest, finest and healthiest of produce from the region's ever-changing seasonal bounty. The dining experience is complimented with wine selections from a 10,000 bottle cellar and the expertise of Master Sommelier Richard Dean.

Executive Chef Srijith Gopinathan hails from Southern India, where he grew up cooking with his mother and grandmother. Beginning his career with luxury hotels in India, Chef Sri started to realize his potential to harmonize flavors and classical European cooking with the memories of his youth. On the path to establishing his interpretation of food, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and apprenticed in the kitchen of Raymond Blanc and Gary Jones at the famed Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, in Oxford, England (a MICHELIN Guide two-star restaurant). Chef Sri joined Campton Place Restaurant in 2007, from the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa in the Maldives where his Mediterranean-inspired cooking at Deep End was ranked among the world's best by House and Garden UK and Luxury Travel Magazine Australia, and was listed in “Hot Tables” by Conde Nast Trave ler.

Today, his food at Campton Place Restaurant reflects his inspired culinary journey, with newly introduced dinner menus that offer diners an inventive evening of celebration with a choice of three six-course tasting menus and a nine-course Degustation Menu with or without wine pairings. His signature Spice Route Menu (the other six-course menus are the Market Menu and the Vegetarian Market Menu) uses European techniques to combine seasonal California ingredients with the evocative flavors of his Southern India childhood, bringing spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger and turmeric into play. The menu is an homage to an ancient time when luxury goods such as these exotic spices were transported across land and sea trading routes from India and Arabia through Africa, Egypt and the Levant to reach Mediterranean ports. Spice Route dishes include Black Cod with Coastal Spices with cannellini beans and white shrimp kitchdi, East Indian Duck Buns with saffron and deghi chili oil, and Slow-cooked Lamb Shank with raita mousse.

MICHELIN Guide San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country 2013 covers a wider geographic region than most of its peers, stretching from Los Gatos in the south to Geyserville in the north. Over the past year, Michelin inspectors have analyzed restaurants throughout Northern California, always anonymously. At the end of their investigative process, they gather to debate the region's restaurants in full, determining which restaurants should be retained in the selection, and which merit one, two or three stars.

Thanks to a rigorous selection process that is applied independently and consistently around the 23 countries by the MICHELIN Guide, the MICHELIN Guide has become an international benchmark in gourmet dining. The selection is made by anonymous, professional inspectors who are Michelin employees and is based on the same working methods in all countries. They pay all their bills in full. This guarantees a total independence of the Guide regarding the hospitality industry.

With more than one million copies sold in approximately 100 countries, the MICHELIN Guide has always built its success on the diversity of its selection. Moreover, inclusion in the MICHELIN Guide is, in itself, synonymous with quality, since only the best establishments in each comfort and price category are featured in the Guide.

For dining reservations at Campton Place Restaurant, please call 415-781-5555, or visit opentable.com.

About: Taj Campton Place