Why did head chef Matthew Kirkley step down from Coi after receiving third coveted Michelin star?

Chef Matthew Kirkley has just been awarded a third star in the Michelin Guide San Francisco 2018 for seafood restaurant Coi, but according to news site Eater SF the chef had already left the kitchen when the stars were handed out.

In the guide, which was released at the end of last month following a delay caused by wildfires which wiped out many restaurants, Coi was the only restaurant to be bumped up from two to three stars.

In doing so the restaurant now joins six other restaurants in the guide to receive three stars including Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry. But in a surprise turn of events Matthew will now leave the restaurant so he can focus on training for the international culinary competition, Bocuse d’Or. He has already spent the last three months training for the competition as well as heading up the kitchen at Coi according to Eater SF.

Just last week the Michelin starred chef and his commis, Mimi Chen won the US championships and will now be representing America at the 2019 Bocuse d’Or. In order to

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represent the US the chef will be required to train all year and move to Napa so will no longer be able to head up the kitchen at Coi.

According to Eater SF a representative for the restaurant has said: “The core of Coi’s culinary team remains the very same that was recently awarded those three Michelin stars.”

The news site has also reported that a replacement for Matthew has yet to be confirmed but in the meantime the chef de cuisine, Justin Mauz formerly of Dominique Crenn’s Antoinette in the Claremont Hotel, may fill in for the chef until his successor is found.

Matthew has been with the modern seafood restaurant based in North Beach for two years following Daniel Patterson’s departure where the former chef owner earned the restaurant two stars before Matthew achieved the sought after third star earlier this year.

Following the release of the Michelin Guide San Francisco 2018, Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin Guide said of Coi: “Our inspectors have been following chef Kirkley since his days at L20 in Chicago, and we were thrilled to see that he is at the summit of his art.

“We were truly impressed by his artistry and his team’s ability to produce sublime dishes based on local ingredients like abalone, oysters and seafood.”