When it comes to the best of the best restaurants in the United States, the Bay Area now has bragging rights — for the first time.

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Michelin’s ‘affordable dining’ awards: 67 Bay Area restaurants honored The 2018 Michelin Guide for New York City was released Monday, with five dining establishments garnering three-star ratings — down from six last year. Jean-Georges was downgraded to two stars.

The Bay Area had moved up last week from six three-starred restaurants with the addition of Coi in San Francisco.

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That makes it Bay Area 7, New York 5.

Eater New York put it bluntly: “The downgrade effectively confirms that New York is no longer the country’s fine dining capital in the eyes of Michelin. Only five local restaurants — Per Se, Le Bernardin, Masa, Brooklyn Fare, and Eleven Madison Park — now hold the guide’s highest honor of three stars, compared with seven in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

However, when it comes to overall Michelin stars, New York reigns. The region has 11 restaurants with two stars (compared to seven for the Bay Area) and 56 restaurants with one star (the Bay Area has 41).

According to Eater, “The demotion of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship, famous for fusing French cuisine with Asian ingredients, is by far the biggest news” among Monday’s announcements. The restaurant opened two decades ago and had held three Michelin stars since 2006.

However, in an interview with Eater, Michelin’s international director, Michael Ellis, said the Michelin inspectors felt Jean-Georges was “kind of on cruise control.”

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“It was a difficult decision for us to make,” Ellis was quoted as saying. “Unfortunately, we saw a slow glide downward. It started off with small things … and it didn’t get any better. It was kind of on cruise control.”

“Our hope is that he’ll be able to get that third star back very quickly,” Ellis added.

As Eater New York further noted on the NYC vs. SF competition: The Bay Area has gained five three-star restaurants since 2011. In that time span, New York hadn’t gained a single one.

The Bay Area’s three-starred restaurants are Benu in San Francisco (Corey Lee chef), Coi in San Francisco (Matthew Kirkley chef), The French Laundry in Yountville (Thomas Keller chef), Manresa in Los Gatos (David Kinch chef), Quince in San Francisco (Michael Tusk chef), The Restaurant at Meadowood (Christopher Kostow chef) and Saison in San Francisco (Joshua Skenes chef).

New York’s three-starred restaurants are the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare (Cesar Ramirez chef), Eleven Madison Park (Daniel Humm chef), Le Bernardin (Eric Ripert chef), Masa (Masa Takayama chef) and Per Se (Thomas Keller chef).

And yes, that does give famed chef Thomas Keller the rare distinction of owning two restaurants with three stars apiece: The French Laundry in Yountville in California’s Wine Country and Per Se in New York City. He’s been on both lists for years.