Mille Fleurs Named Top Restaurant in U.S.

San Diego is home to one of America’s top 100 restaurants and it doesn’t belong to a celebrity chef, nor is it run by hipster beer-makers.

Mille Fleurs, the long-standing French restaurant in quaint downtown Rancho Santa Fe, is the only San Diego spot named by OpenTable as one of the best places to eat in America.

“It’s quite an honor,” said owner Bertrand Hug, who also owns Bertrand at Mister A’s in Bankers Hill. “I’m extremely proud. Unlike Yelp, where anyone can write anything they want whether or not they’ve even been to the restaurant, OpenTable only uses discriminating diners.”

OpenTable, a high-end reservations website, picked its 2013 top 100 list based on more than 5 million reviews of about 19,000 restaurants. All the reviews were submitted by verified diners.

Other California restaurants that made the list include St. Francis Winery & Vineyards in Santa Rosa; n/naka in Los Angeles; The French Laundry in Yountville; Acquerello, Atelier Crenn, Sons & Daughters and Saison in San Francisco; Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford; Carpe Vino in Auburn; Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant in Forestville; The Kitchen Restaurant in Sacramento; Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills; and Marinus - Bernardus Lodge in Carmel.

Mille Fleurs, which serves seasonal French modern cuisine, opened in 1985. Along with drawing customers from Hollywood, New York and Chicago, it’s also hosted every American president going back to Nixon.

“The only president who hasn’t dined here is our current one,” Hug said.

He added that he feels pride in making the list, especially since Mille Fleurs often gets forgotten in the shuffle of trendy restaurant openings.

“Many times we get lost,” he said. “But this is an honor that reflects our hard work and attention to detail.”

Read more at utsandiego.com

Source: DiscoverSD