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Somni Just Became Los Angeles's First Three-Michelin-Star Restaurant
Just six months after Aitor Zabala resurrected his ambitious Spanish tasting menu restaurant, Somni, in West Hollywood, it has become Los Angeles's first three-Michelin-starred restaurant. The previous iteration of the restaurant inside the SLS Beverly Hills, which earned two Michelin stars, closed in August 2020 amid the pandemic. This is the first time a restaurant in Los Angeles has been awarded three stars since the guide arrived to the city in 2008.
Somni's three-star designation was revealed in a video posted to the Michelin Guide's YouTube channel in advance of the 2025 ceremony on June 25 in Sacramento. The video quickly circulated on Reddit, but is now marked as unlisted. A Michelin Guide representative confirmed the Somni three-star designation to Eater.
Zabala's impressive resume includes restaurants like Alkimia, Abac, El Bullí, Akelarre, and numerous José Andrés restaurants. He opened the first version of Somni, which means 'dream' in Catalan, in 2018 as a 25-course tasting menu with 10 seats at a blonde wood curved counter. (The first version of the restaurant was opened with Andres as a partner, though he is no longer involved.) 'Somni is our American dream — our opportunity to add to the legacy and culture of Los Angeles,' he told Eater in 2018. But just two years later, the restaurant closed when its contract, along with the Bazaar's, was terminated with the SLS Beverly Hills.
After years of anticipation, Zabala debuted the current iteration of Somni in West Hollywood in November 2024. The restaurant is a fully realized version of the dream he had in 2018, encompassing multiple spaces that include a tree-lined courtyard and an auditorium-like dining room. Somni seats 14 diners across two curved counters, set in a high-ceilinged dining room. Zabala and chef de cuisine Ismael Parra, along with a team of cooks, assemble intricate dishes as guests look on, like a Parmesan feather and a dashi meringue crowned with caviar. An evening here is as much of a meal as it is an exhibition of Zabala's work as an artist and chef, weaving Spanish influences and California sensibilities.
Somni's recognition as the first three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Los Angeles is a significant milestone for the city. Before the 2025 ceremony, Los Angeles restaurants had only ever been awarded two stars. Undoubtedly, Zabala has ushered in a new era of Michelin-caliber dining in Los Angeles — and in California.
In a complete rebirth, former two-Michelin-star restaurant Somni has opened in a new West Hollywood location under chef Aitor Zabala. Somni occupies a cloistered set of buildings just north of Santa Monica Boulevard serving precise Spanish-inflected modernist tasting menus to a rounded duet of countertops. The high-ceiling space acts as a theater of sorts to Zabala's kitchen crew, assembling dashi meringue fish topped with Astrea caviar or escabeche mussels dressed with borage flowers. Expect every flavorful turn to be delightful, especially for the sky-high $495 price that will inevitably feel justified after experiencing perhaps the most innovative meal in Los Angeles. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest See More:
