Laguna Niguel Restaurant Receive AAA Four Diamond Rating

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA —The coveted AAA Four and Five Diamond ratings were released Thursday, with The Belvedere restaurant at The Peninsula Beverly Hills the sole Los Angeles County restaurant to earn a coveted rating. Ten restaurants in Los Angeles County and four in Orange County earned Four Diamond ratings.

According to the Automobile Club of Southern California, the only other Southern California restaurant to earn the Five Diamond rating is the Addison at Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego County.

The Belvedere has been an AAA Five Diamond restaurant since 1995. The Addison has been on the list since 2008.

"Attaining the AAA Five Diamond rating is an impressive accomplishment," said Patty Marenco, manager of the Auto Club of Southern California's Approved Accommodations Program. "Guests want to be wowed on multiple levels, so exceptional service is also important but they're not necessarily looking for all the formalities that were once so synonymous with fine dining."

According to the Auto Club, the four and five diamond rated restaurants offer "a distinctive fine-dining experience, employing creative preparations that are skillfully served amid upscale ambience."

The Orange County restaurants which received the four diamond rating included:

• Napa Rose at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa;
• Raya at The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel;
• The Cellar in Fullerton
• Studio at Montage Laguna Beach.

Three Beverly Hills restaurants earned the Four Diamond Rating:

• Cut by Wolfgang Puck at the Beverly Wilshire;
• The Blvd at the Beverly Wilshire;
• Spago Beverly Hills.

Also earning the distinction were Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas; Culina Modern Italian at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills; Patina; Nobu Malibu; The Raymond Restaurant in Pasadena; Melisse in Santa Monica; and Valentino Santa Monica, which has since closed.

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