Venice Restaurant Added To Michelin Guide For California

VENICE, CA — Alta California-style Mexican restaurant Chulita in the heart of Venice was added to the California Michelin Guide, the company announced Wednesday.

Chulita was one of 37 restaurants added to the guide and is known for its local Californian yet authentically Mexican food and refreshing mezcal/tequila cocktails.

"Tacos are served all day at this spot where Oaxacan-style, California-influenced Mexican food rules," a Michelin inspector said of Chulita.

The restaurant believes that better farming results in better flavor, sourcing its produce from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market and using Masienda Heirloom Crom from farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico. Chulita's tortillas are hand-made and pressed from scratch from traditional maize.

For cocktails, all of the cocktail bar's tequilas and mezcals are distilled in small batches from artisanal Mexican palenques. The house-made tepache, a fermented beverage made from the peel and rind of pineapples, pairs well with the restaurant's Serrano Mezcal according to their website.

“By revealing some of the new additions made by our inspectors throughout the year, we enhance our digital tools to further strengthen the ties that bind us to food lovers,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the MICHELIN Guides. “We hope that these regular revelations and updates to the selection throughout the year will provide opportunities to highlight the profession and invite everyone to discover and support the restaurants around them.”

The entire selection of added restaurants will be revealed on Dec.5 at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Restaurant teams will find out their Michelin Guide distinctions at the ceremony, which will be streamed live, the company said.