Where the Michelin stars are

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Here’s something to toque about: Michelin Guide’s 2011 awards have bestowed six stars on restaurants in Yountville, Calif., including three for the legendary French Laundry, and one apiece for Redd, Bouchon and Étoile at Domaine Chandon.

If your reaction is, ‘So what?,’ there’s this: Those six stars are all within about six walking blocks of each other -- a culinary feat for the tiny community in California’s wine country.

The press release issued by the travel guide company bestows yet another title: ‘Sequestered within four square miles, Yountville’s prowess as a culinary powerhouse is unmatched’; the town boasts the largest concentration of Michelin stars per capita ‘on the planet.’

There are more stars not far away: The Restaurant at Meadowood, located just a half-hour north, was also awarded three stars. Over the hill in Sonoma County, Healdsburg’s Cyrus won two stars. And La Toque and Ubuntu in Napa, Solbar in Calistoga and Terra in St. Helena each won a single star.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

File photo: Peter Merholz