Who is Dominique Crenn, the first three-Michelin-starred female chef in the United States

Dominique Crenn is the first woman in the United States to earn three Michelin stars in 2018 for her Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, and today she is a symbol of change, both inside and outside the kitchen. A celebrated figure, featured on television programmes and emblematic of a cultured and sustainable cuisine, she has built a culinary framework of rigour, poetry and sustainability, breaking the glass ceiling of North American gastronomy and offering an inclusive and responsible vision. But her journey has not been linear: her stellar rise alternates with personal struggles, a serious illness, separations, and divisive choices in food philosophy. In this portrait, light and shadow alternate, portraying a complex and never predictable figure.

Who is Dominique Crenn

Dominique Crenn was born on 7 April 1965 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. Adopted at 18 months by Allain and Louise Crenn, she grew up between visits to international restaurants and the experience of a summer spent on a farm, shaped by her mother’s dishes and the flavours of Brittany. After a degree in economics and a master’s in international business, she chose the path of cuisine and moved to San Francisco at the end of the 1980s.

Her first landing place was Stars, the restaurant of Jeremiah Tower, one of the pioneers of so-called “California cuisine” alongside Alice Waters. It was a decisive experience for the self-taught chef, who learnt the trade directly on the field. In the following years she worked abroad, at the Miyako Hotel in Osaka and later at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jakarta, honing her technical skills and management abilities.

Michelin stars, illness and the vegetarian turn

In 2011 she opened Atelier Crenn, her personal laboratory and statement of intent. On the menus little meat, no chicken, and ingredients sourced from small farms in the Bay Area. Within a few years came the first recognitions: she earned her first Michelin star in 2011, the second in 2013 and, in 2018, the three stars that consecrated her as the first woman in the United States to reach this milestone. Alongside this project she launched Bar Crenn, a Michelin-starred wine bar, Petit Crenn, dedicated to the food of memory, and Boutique Crenn, a patisserie and shop of delicacies.

But in 2019 came the diagnosis of breast cancer. Crenn faced the illness without ceasing to work, documenting the journey on social media, even with powerful images: her shaved head in the very days when Michelin reconfirmed the three stars for her restaurant. From that moment on, her professional commitment intertwined with her environmental one. “The planet is sick, like me,” she often declared. She eliminated meat and fish from her establishments, announcing a progressive turn towards vegetarianism.

She did not embrace veganism, which she considered contradictory in relation to the provenance of some ingredients, but she insisted on the responsibility of food in climate change. Her vision had a direct impact also on the international gastronomic debate. Atelier Crenn received the Michelin Green Star for sustainability as the first restaurant in the USA to become plastic-free, and confirmed itself as a benchmark for a model of ethical dining. In July 2025 she opened Bleu Belle Farm in Sonoma Valley, a regenerative farm where she grows ingredients for her restaurants in the Bay Area.

Private life

On a personal level, Crenn has two twin daughters born in 2014 from a previous relationship, who live with her ex-partner Katherine Keon. In December 2019 she became engaged to actress Maria Bello. The wedding took place in Mexico in 2024, however only a year later Bello filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences”. Over the course of her career, Crenn has authored two books and appeared in numerous television programmes: Chef’s Table, Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend; in 2021 she worked as a consultant for the film The Menu.

A strong woman who broke down gender barriers, imposed a sustainable vision and demonstrated that the language of food can be both poetic and political. Her Michelin stars coexist with the scars of illness, with difficult choices and with the complexity of private life. A portrait made of light and shadow, making her less of a monument and more human, capable of influencing global cuisine precisely through her vulnerability.