2025 California Michelin awards new restaurants in West Oakland, Sonoma

West Oakland restaurant and a Sonoma restaurant are newest Michelin Star recipients in 2025 CA guide

Sun Moon Studio in West Oakland and Enclos in the city of Sonoma received Michelin stars at the 2025 Guide ceremony Wednesday, after being open just over one year. Chef Alan Hsu and Chef Sarah Cooper of Sun Moon Studio say they are grateful for the community support in Oakland. Chef Brian Limoges of Enclos, who received two stars, paid tribute to one of the restaurant's late co-owner Mac McQuown.

OAKLAND, Calif. -
Looking over freshly plucked herbs from their friend's student farming project, Chef Alan Hsu and Chef Sarah Cooper were back at work in their tiny restaurant Sun Moon Studio on Thursday, after winning a coveted Michelin star barely one year after opening in an industrial part of West Oakland.

"Kind of humbled, and surprised, and excited. It's such an honor," Cooper said.

"A restaurant of 4 is our team. We're really proud of the work that we're doing," Hsu said.

The restaurant has four tables with two seatings a night. Reservations through OpenTable open six weeks in advance.

The restaurant's name is symbolic of their heritage and their creative vision.

"Sun moon is the name of a lake in Taiwan that Sarah and I visited because my heritage is Taiwanese," Hsu said. "We just love the place, and so we think of it as a lot of things, like the sun and the moon being contrasts and how we approach the cuisine with textures and flavor profiles."

The restaurant is on 21st Street in the heart of an industrial part of West Oakland, and is now the second restaurant in Oakland to get on the Michelin star list.

"I can't even begin to describe how encouraging and inspiring the community has been of our space and what we're doing," Cooper said.

It is a proud moment for Oakland's culinary scene, according to Chef James Syhabout, who was the first Oakland restaurateur to get a Michelin star at the now two-starred Commis restaurant.

"It's fantastic. It's been a long time coming," Syhabout said. "It keeps the momentum going and just uplifts the community and puts the city on the map."

Syhabout spoke from Taipei, where he'd been invited to cook as a guest chef, saying he hopes to see Hsu and Cooper when he returns to give them a hug and congratulate them.

"We couldn't be more proud to be following in his footsteps. He's a real hero to us," Hsu said. "He's a mentor. The cooks that he teaches, not only how to cook but how to be a good person."

Another new Bay Area restaurant to make the California Michelin Star list just a year after opening is Enclos.

Enclos became the first restaurant in the city of Sonoma to earn two Michelin stars.

Enclos' Chef Brian Limoges said receiving the two Michelin stars and the Green Star for sustainability is especially meaningful, as a way to honor the memory of Enclos owners Leslie McQuown and her late husband, Mac McQuown.

"He wanted to have a carbon-negative farm and that's what he established and so to be able to get the Green Star was really special," Limoges said.

Also in the 2025 California Michelin Guide, the San Francisco restaurant Kiln was elevated from one star to two stars. Sons and Daughters, also in the city, earned a Green star. 

There was one Bay Area restaurant that lost their only Michelin star. ChezTJ in Mountain View has had that one-star rating for 19 years, and the owner told the SFGate he is heartbroken.

The Bay Area remains a culinary mecca, with 28 one-star restaurants, 10 two-star restaurants. and 5 restaurants receiving the highest honor of three Michelin stars.

For a list of the 2025 Michelin Guide for California, click HERE.