what they're saying
THE BEST
Welcome to Michael’s is named one of three nominees for the best “Entertaining” cookbook of 2007 in the 2008 James Beard Foundation Awards. The awards will be presented at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, in New York City on Sunday, June 8, 2008.
—jbfawards.com
CLUBHOUSE
"The restaurant is a clubhouse for a certain class of celebrity. Owner Michael McCarty recently released his new book, Welcome to Michael's, which includes recipes, philosophy, and a collection of Michaelisms The book boasts an introduction from gossip legend and frequent patron Liz Smith."
-Radar.com, December 18, 2007 (please click on link to see Liz Smith's Radar.com interview with Michael)
A MUST
"For many in the media elite, lunch at Michael's is a must and the guy at the center of the media insider's scene is Michael McCarty."
-Andy Plesser, Beet.TV, December 19, 2007 (please click on link to view an exclusive Beet.TV interview with Michael at Michael's New York)
REVOLUTIONARY
"McCarty was one of the young chefs back in the Seventies and Eighties who wanted to revolutionize American eating. McCarty knows it takes more than food to make a great restaurant. He wants every day to feel like a party."
—All Things Considered, NPR, November 25, 2007
SOCIAL CHESS MATCH
"There are few places where the seating chart is more carefully kept than Michael's. At his restaurants in New York and Los Angeles, owner Michael McCarty's lunch service is more like a social chess match."
—Sunday Morning, CBS News, November 18, 2007
POWER LUNCHES, SIGNATURE RECIPES
“The man, the myth, the legend. He’s known for his power lunches…one of New York’s hottest watering holes…. A New York institution in the heart of midtown Manhattan. Celebrities and power players in the media come together to see and be seen over lunch at Michael’s. Owner Michael McCarty personally greets each of his customers, making them feel like they’re guests in his own home And now he’s sharing some of his signature recipes in his new cookbook, Welcome to Michael’s.”
—The Today Show, NBC, October 18, 2007
(please click on link to view a video clip of Michael in action making White Truffle Risotto from the book)
SIMPLICITY AND STYLE
" Finally…a gourmet cookbook for the rest of us! Michael McCarty, owner/chef of Michael’s Santa Monica and Michael’s New York, reveals his secrets for entertaining with simplicity and style in Welcome to Michael’s. Most of the gourmet cookbooks in my collection consist of recipes that are so involved and time-consuming that the books just sit on the bookshelf. However, the simplicity of Welcome to Michael’s will ensure its place directly on my kitchen counter. The photographs are stunning, and, most importantly, the book’s layout is straightforward."
—Jacqueline Jung, www.nightsandweekends.com
HOW TO LIVE
"Part personal guide to enjoying the good life, part high school yearbook of the cool people (nearly every other page has a witty personal inscription by someone famous), and part cooking instruction manual, WELCOME TO MICHAEL'S turns out to be, like the two famed restaurants of the author, a hoot. But here's the best part, the book works whether you know what you're doing in the kitchen (or think you do), or whether you're the kind of person who uses the refrigerator to store three kinds of mustard and your take-out containers. The personality of Michael McCarty jumps off the page. He isn't just telling you how to make his tomato-basil vinaigrette (which he liberally advises us to use on grilled vegetables, fish, poultry and meat); he is telling us how to live."
—Holly Goldberg Sloan, www.oneforthetable.com
SMART
"A good restaurateur is as smart about people as he is about food. Michael McCarty, owner of the popular Michael's in Santa Monica and New York, shares his secrets and recipes in Welcome to Michael's."
–O, The Oprah Magazine, October 2007
REALLY GOOD FOOD
"Twenty-five years ago, Michael's, the Santa Monica restaurant that helped jump-start California cuisine, was famous for the exotic sourcing of its ingredients. The birthplaces of many of those ingredients were listed right there on the menu.... But yesterday afternoon, when I was glancing through Welcome to Michael's, McCarty's handsome new cookbook/memoir, it struck me that where 20 years ago, his sourcing had seemed foreign, even odd, most of the producers and growers he chats about in his book have names that a lot of food-obsessed people in Los Angeles probably recognize.... Really good food, even really good food in the style of Michael's, is now within the reach of careful shoppers who frequent farmers markets and decent butchers' counters...."
—Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly, Oct.26-Nov.1, 2007
SIMPLY FABULOUS
"One of California's finest restaurants, Michael's has been one of the best eating places in Santa Monica since its inception in 1979. Opening his New York restaurant in 1989, he brought the simply fabulous food east and wowed the crowd. Here are many of his recipes, gracefully presented, for the home cook to prepare, serve, and throw a great party! No better time than this season, to get in the kitchen, and enjoy the best food, wonderfully prepared, with your best friends and family."
-Stalks, November 2007
ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY
“Our weekly Wednesday lunches at 55th & Fifth have always been something of an anthropological study of the various Manhattan media tribes, so we were intrigued by the prospect of observing the natives in their natural habitat roaming free versus being confined by their designated tables when a few hundred of Michael's regulars descended upon the restaurant to celebrate the publication of Michael McCarty's new book titled, not surprisingly, Welcome to Michael's.”
—MediaBistro.com, October 17, 2007
SECRET TO LIVING WELL
“The story about Michael’s is really the story about The Good Life. Michael McCarty is one of those individuals who has a talent for living well. Eating well is a big big part of it, and that is reflected on so many pages and in so many images in this new book. Michael demonstrates that it’s true: Living well is a gift. Like beauty, like genius, like an unexpected song. And Michael McCarty’s got it. The book incidentally, has the feeling about it that the secret to living well is contained therein. See for yourself.”
—David Patrick Columbia, New York Social Diary, October 17, 2007
A WALKING PARTY
"Michael McCarty is a walking party, and the beautiful thing about the guy is that he wants everybody to be invited. Yes, his restaurant Michael's on W. 55th St. is like a cafeteria for rulers of the New York universe. But the exuberant McCarty has written the picture cookbook 'Welcome to Michael's' so everyone can entertain like he does, and cook the Modern American cuisine he helped pioneer in his Santa Monica boite."
—Rush & Malloy, NY Daily News, October 18, 2007
SIMPLE, LIVELY CUISINE
"Michael McCarty's new cookbook opens the doors to the restaurateur-chef's high-powered dining rooms in Santa Monica and New York. Recipes for a full range of the restaurants' simple, lively California cuisine are interspersed with adoring quotes from famous patrons and restaurant biz colleagues."
-NY Daily News, October 9, 2007
CHARMS BEYOND FOOD
This cookbook has charms beyond food. It's also a summary of Michael McCarty's philosophy. Given his success, his obvious happiness and his uncanny ability to make the most neurotic people on the planet feel at home, that philosophy merits your attention. And, for good measure, some of the regulars offer their Michael's stories, which are often as funny and irreverent as the owner.
–Jesse Kornbluth, www.headbutler.com
ENTHUSIASTIC AND PATIENT
Chef/owner McCarty (Michael's Cookbook) has served celebrities, media executives and foodies at his self-named Santa Monica and New York City restaurants for more than 25 years. In this attractive, chatty volume, he proudly presents a distinctly bicoastal collection of 85 of his favorite dishes. Employing quality ingredients, McCarty relies on simple preparation and last-minute garnishing with fresh herbs. Enthusiastic and patient, McCarty frequently takes time to extrapolate on topics such as charcuterie, lobster and mushrooms; his passage on choosing and opening oysters will prove a Godsend for frustrated fans of the bivalves. Those looking for a handy and accessible guide to creating elegant seasonal dishes will find a lot to like.
–Publishers Weekly
AUTHENTIC
"The wonderful thing about Michael's is that it's an authentic place to go to eat and see people…. I like to think of Michael's as the most exciting manifestation you'll find today of Manhattan as a small town."
–Liz Smith, in her Foreword to Welcome to Michael's
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
"I think Michael has succeeded, first, because he is very, very smart about knowing his audience. Like his restaurants, he has also aged remarkably well. He has an enormous amount of personal charm, charisma, and graciousness. And he has an amazingly positive attitude about life."
–Ruth Reichl, Editor in Chief, Gourmet
GREAT PARTY
"There is no boring meal with Michael. It's always a great party."
–Wolfgang Puck, Chef and Restaurateur
LOVE
"Michael loves art, and he loves farmers, and he has made that love part of the dining experience."
–Alice Waters, Executive Chef and Owner, Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California
JOY
"Michael certainly rocks that restaurant. It's a reflection of him and his joy and his love of the game and love of the food."
–Jann Wenner, Founder, Publisher, and Editor, Rolling Stone
SIMPLE IS BETTER
"What Michael brings to the restaurant world is a lack of pretense. Things don't have to be complicated to be impressive. Simple really is better, and letting the ingredients star in the dish makes the cook look like a star as well."
–Barbara Fairchild, Editor in Chief, Bon Appétit
STAYING ALOFT
"All the years I've lived in New York, I don't remember a place lifting off and staying aloft as long as Michael's has."
–Tom Brokaw, NBC Newsman
FUNDAMENTALLY ELEGANT
"Michael is all about the best possible ingredients being treated in a fundamentally elegant, simple way. That's something every home cook can learn to do."
–Tim Zagat, Cochair and CEO, Zagat Survey
GREAT CONTRIBUTION
"Michael's focus on simplicity and distilling all of its essences is his great contribution to food in America."
–Ken Hom, Chinese Chef, Author, Teacher, and TV Personality
NEVER DISAPPOINTS
"Michael's never disappoints you. I've never walked in there and come away going, 'Yech!'"
–Joan Rivers, Comedienne
ADVENTURE
"With Michael, everything is always an adventure. You always feel that Michael is having as much fun as you are."
–D. Crosby Ross, Former Executive Director, American Institute of Wine & Food
UNCONVENTIONAL
"Michael shows you that entertaining at home is about not being conventional, not being stuck with clichés, boxes, do's and don'ts."
–Rémi Krug, President, Krug Champagne
IRREPRESSIBLE
"Michael is irrepressible. He's always on. He's just this unfailing source of good cheer."
–Corby Kummer, Senior Editor, The Atlantic Monthly
GIANT PERSONALITY
"Michael's got a giant, happy personality, and I think it shows in his food."
–Donnie Madia, Co-owner, Blackbird, Chicago
GOOD TIME
"Michael's message to people is: Hey, you're welcome here. Come in and let's have a good time."
–Helen Gurley Brown, Author and Legendary Editor in Chief, Cosmopolitan
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