Balboa Park is already an explorer’s playground and San Diegans now have another stop to add to their sightseeing checklist – a new addition to California’s 2023 Michelin Guide.
Artifact at Mingei is an international dining experience in the folk art and craft museum. And, when we say this dining experience is IN the Mingei International Museum, we mean in. Guests dine on the first floor of the museum are surrounded by international craft art pieces as they dine on a wide-ranging culinary menu inspired by ancient spices and botanicals.
“The restaurant is right here in the museum and there’s a wonderful collaboration and connection," Executive Director and CEO Jessica Hanson York said. "The botanicals and the craft and the methods and the spices that are used to prepare the really dynamic menu here have a close connection to Mingei’s international collection.”
The Michelin Guide said their "proudly eclectic and international" menu is what landed them on their acclaimed guide for June 2023.
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“It’s one of the highest honors you can get and we’re just excited that we put in all this dedication and hard work to really be recognized,” Chef Jeff Armstrong said.
Their menu features both lunch and dinner and includes a variety of dumplings, salads and plates from short rib bao to thai green curry noodles. Michelin Guide highlighted Artifact's shrimp gyoza, plant-based options and deserts as standouts.
“The Michelin Guide is a fantastic endorsement of a really quality dining experience, It is an honor to walk into the museum every day and get to experience all the great things that our visitors get to when they come in the door, and it’s right here, I love it.”
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After being closed for most of the coronavirus pandemic and for a planned renovation, The Mingei International Museum reopened its doors with a renovated space in 2021.
