LOS ANGELES, March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Michelin announced today that it will expand its exclusive hotel and restaurant guide series in North America to include guides for Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Michelin Guide Los Angeles 2008 and Michelin Guide Las Vegas 2008 are scheduled to arrive in stores November 2007. The Michelin Guide Los Angeles will cover hotels and restaurants in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Westwood, Downtown, Santa Monica, Ventura Blvd. and Pasadena; the Michelin Guide Las Vegas will include Las Vegas Blvd. and Downtown, as well as areas east and west of the Strip.

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The Michelin Guide, whose rating system is internationally recognized as the height of culinary success, is published in 15 editions covering 21 countries. It also includes a Guide to New York City, introduced in November 2005, and another to San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country, introduced in October 2006. And earlier this month, Michelin announced it would be entering the Asian market this year with the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2008, to be released in November.

For their debut in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the Guides will provide a selection and rating, in all categories of comfort and prices, of area restaurants and hotels, in a reader-friendly layout made especially for the American market and its distinctive culinary and hotel landscape.

"These two cities offer residents and visitors alike an eclectic mix of restaurant options, with an amazing variety of cuisine choices from all over the world," said Christian Delhaye, President Michelin Maps and Guides. "The inspectors have enjoyed getting a taste for these exciting, dynamic cities and discovering the restaurants that bring character and flavor to the region. In Los Angeles, these restaurants are found throughout the metro area, in the most popular parts of the city to off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods. In Las Vegas, however - as you might expect - the top restaurants are concentrated in a small geographic area."

As part of its meticulous and highly confidential evaluation process, Michelin inspectors - both European and American - are currently conducting anonymous inspections in Los Angeles and Las Vegas restaurants and hotels. As with all Michelin Guide inspections, the process involves test meals or overnight stays at each establishment by Michelin inspectors, in order to assess the level and the consistency of the establishment. As with all of the Guides for all countries, inspectors pay all of their bills at restaurants and hotels and are all full-time Michelin employees.

"The Michelin inspectors are the eyes and ears of the customers, and thus the anonymity of our inspectors is key to ensure they are treated the same as any guest would be treated," commented Delhaye.

The Michelin Guide offers a broad selection of hotels and restaurants in each price and comfort category, taking into account each country's local environment. This rating is unique and consistent across all countries covered by the Michelin Guide. It is expressed in two ways:

-- A comfort rating : levels of comfort are rated using one to five forks and spoons for restaurants and one to five pavilions for hotels. Those symbols only judge the comfort of the establishment. They are: the furnishings of the establishment, the service, the cleanliness and upkeep of the surroundings. Red forks and spoons or red pavilions are for especially pleasant establishments. -- Special distinctions for certain establishments: these include stars for the very best restaurants. The stars judge only "what's on the plate," meaning the quality of products, the mastering of flavors, the mastering of cooking, the "personality" of the cuisine, the value for money and the consistency of what it offers to its customers both throughout the menu and the year.

While every restaurant in the Guide is a recommendation from Michelin, certain restaurants deserve to be brought to the reader's attention for the particularity fine quality of their cooking. These establishments are identified by Michelin stars, which are awarded for the standard of meals served.

A general listing in the Guide indicates "a quality restaurant that stands out from others" in the same category of comfort, definitely worth trying.

The star ratings are as follows: -- One star indicates "a very good restaurant in its category," a place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. -- Two stars denote "excellent cooking, worth a detour," skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. -- Three stars reward "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey." One always eats extremely well here, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients.

The decision to award a star is a collective one, based on the consensus of all inspectors who have visited a particular establishment. A written description of each establishment and a variety of other symbols will give readers further insight into an establishment's ambiance, type of cuisine and specialties, and wine list, customized to American tastes and needs.

The two founders, Andre and Edouard Michelin, first impacted the transportation world, and consequently the travel world, when their innovative ideas led to the first pneumatic automobile tires. Since this breakthrough in travel technology, the Michelin Group has been dedicated to providing unbiased, accurate, clear and easy-to-understand information for the traveling customer. The Michelin Guide, first published in 1900, was created to provide motorists with practical information about where they could service and repair their cars and find quality accommodations or a good meal. The Guide was provided free of charge until 1920, and the "star system" for outstanding restaurants was introduced in 1926, with the two- and three-star categories introduced in the early 1930s, clearly positioning Michelin as the most respected arbiter of fine dining. With their unparalleled commitment to quality, Michelin publishes close to 19 million maps, atlases, travel guides and hotel and restaurant guides in more than 90 countries worldwide every year.

The Michelin Guide Los Angeles 2008 and Michelin Guide Las Vegas 2008 will complement the existing catalog of Michelin maps and guides to the North American market, including the recently launched Guides to New York City and San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country. The Guides will be available in November 2007 at bookstores, boutiques and other participating retailers, including online retailers.

For more than a century, Michelin Guides have helped travelers enjoy better mobility by offering qualified restaurant and hotel recommendations throughout Europe. Now representing 15 countries and two continents, the collection of 21 Michelin Guides includes more than 45,000 addresses. Its team of nearly 100 professional, highly trained inspectors visits establishments anonymously, applying Michelin's international standards for quality across many categories. In North America, the company has introduced Michelin Guides for New York City and San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country, with plans to

enter more North American cities in the near future. For more information, visit http://www.michelinguide.com/.

CONTACT: Tate Hoxworth of Michelin North America, Inc., +1-864-380-6986,
or Ceci De La Montanya of Allison & Partners, +1-415-277-4909, for Michelin
North America, Inc.; Outside of North America, Michelin Media Relations
Department, +33 1 45 66 22 22

Web site: http://www.michelinguide.com/
http://www.michelinmedia.com/