Michy's, Miami

[Marky Marc]

What I found to be most amazing thing about Michy's was the service. There was almost as many servers as there were tables when I was there. We counted 11 servers at one point!

[markk]

What I found to be most amazing thing about Michy's was the service. There was almost as many servers as there were tables when I was there. We counted 11 servers at one point!

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Michelle is a warm and loving person, and all the servers love her. They also have a respect for her talent that borders on awe, but the whole place is like a mutual love-fest. It's a refreshing and winning combination.

[molto e]

When a restaurant is an universally loved as Michy's is, the bar is set so high but Michy's did not disappoint. I would highly recommend Michy's and I feel it is one of the best examples of the small plates concept that I have sampled.

Menu

There is a helpful thread on Chowhound about what dishes to order at Michy's so I had perused that before I went to the restaurant. The menu had many items that I wanted to sample so I tried to order as much as I could knowing that dessert would follow . I liked the menu format that Michy's utilizes by offering half and full portions on most dishes so the diner can graze thru the menu.

White Gazpacho...marcona almonds, grapes, cucumbers

I had read that the white gazpacho was excellent so this was a dish that I wished to try as I do not remember ever ordering it before. The soup had the perfect blend of flavors with each complementing rather than overpowering each other. I hope the next time that I have this soup that it measures up to what Chef Michele Bernstein created.

Tuna Tartar...chili oil, scallions, chips

This was a tasy spin on an ubiquitous dish with the right amount of zing from the chili oil and the potato chips as the serving method.

Blue Cheese, Shredded Duck and Jamon Croquetas...fig marmalade

These were well constructed but I did not taste the duck and I felt the blue cheese became liquid and I would have preferred some body to it.

House Cured Foie Gras Torchon, cherry vanilla mamalade, brioche crisps

the torchon was smooth and creamy and I would order it again but someone had forgotten to remove part of the cheesecloth that had wrapped the torchon

Chinese Style "Orange Peel" Crispy Sweetbreads...with lettuce cups

Great dish...imaginative, tasty, the sweetbreads were deftly prepared.

Table-Top Picnic...crispy fried organic farm raised young chicken, cole slaw, gravy, honey

This was a dish that I wrestled with ordering but I can not resist fried chicken. The chicken had a crispy exterior and juicy meat and the cole slaw believe it or not was a standout.

Short Ribs Falling off the Bone...creamy mashed potatoes

This is known as a classic dish at Michy's so I had to try it. The short ribs were meltingly tender sitting atop of mashed potatoes and one of the better short ribs dishes that I have had lately.

Baked Alaska...dulce de leche ice cream, pistachio cake, fruit salsa

This dessert was highly recommended and not one that I normally would choose. The outer meringue was more like a marshmallow and soo good. I love dulce de leche ice cream so this was a big hit with me.

Apple Tarte Tatin...thin, crispy and warm, sabayon ice cream, sea salted-thyme caramel sauce

simple and good...the thyme added an interesting nuance to the caramel sauce

This restaurant executes the fine dining without pretense as well as any that I have been to. Everyone working at the restaurant is on the same page and throughly knowledgeable on the food and wine. The servers all helped each other and really cared about delivering a great experience to the diner. Michy's was a pleasure to eat at and I would go back in a heartbeat.

[ulterior epicure]

markk and molto e, I could not be luckier to have you two as the fore-runners to my upcoming visit to Miami! Needless to say, I have been frothing at the mouth for the nearly two years Michy's has been open to eat there; bewitched, as so many others have been, by this half-Argentinean kitchen vixen.

Question: the plates that you pictured about - are those half portions or full portions? I really appreciate the half/full order option, as it allows me to try more of the fare.

Great report; I can't wait to add to this thread when I return.

[molto e]

markk and molto e, I could not be luckier to have you two as the fore-runners to my upcoming visit to Miami!  Needless to say, I have been frothing at the mouth for the nearly two years Michy's has been open to eat there; bewitched, as so many others have been, by this half-Argentinean kitchen vixen. 

Question: the plates that you pictured about - are those half portions or full portions?  I really appreciate the half/full order option, as it allows me to try more of the fare. 

Great report; I can't wait to add to this thread when I return.

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I think it was full of gazpacho...full croquettas (skip if they are the same kind)...half torchon...half sweetbreads

[ulterior epicure]

...full croquettas (skip if they are the same kind)...

To clarify, do you mean to say that the croquettas (as presented on your menu) is not worth ordering?

[markk]

Question: the plates that you pictured about - are those half portions or full portions? 

If I can refer you to my own Michy's photos page, here's the rundown from the top:

foie gras- whole

bouillabaisse - half

chicken feet (not applicable - not a menu item)

sweetbreads - whole

beets- whole; carbonara - whole; croquetas - whole

orechiette - half

clam linguine - half

soft shell crab special - only one size offered

duck confit - only one size offered

polenta - small (I think)

skate special - only one size offered

duck breast - (not applicable - not a menu item)

Be sure to tell them you heard about them on eGullet! Enjoy!!

I look forward to your report.

[ulterior epicure]

Thanks, markk, for that run-down.

Be sure to tell them you heard about them on eGullet!  Enjoy!!

Well, I actually first heard about "them" from chef friends of mine three years ago... and then all over the media, and lastly here on eG....

I look forward to your report.

And, I will! I've been looking forward to this meal for quite some time.

[molto e]

...full croquettas (skip if they are the same kind)...

To clarify, do you mean to say that the croquettas (as presented on your menu) is not worth ordering?

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no, I would order the croquettas but not the blue cheese, jamon , duck confit ones that were on the menu the night that I went

[ulterior epicure]

...full croquettas (skip if they are the same kind)...

To clarify, do you mean to say that the croquettas (as presented on your menu) is not worth ordering?

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no, I would order the croquettas but not the blue cheese, jamon , duck confit ones that were on the menu the night that I went

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Right - that's what I meant, parenthetically, by "as presented on your menu."

markk - did you feel the same way about the croquettas as molto e? In theory, they sound great (especially for a blue funk lover like me). But, I would expect to taste duck, although soft molten blue cheese doesn't sound all that bad to me.

Edited August 31, 2007 by ulterior epicure (log)

[molto e]

...full croquettas (skip if they are the same kind)...

To clarify, do you mean to say that the croquettas (as presented on your menu) is not worth ordering?

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no, I would order the croquettas but not the blue cheese, jamon , duck confit ones that were on the menu the night that I went

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Right - that's what I meant, parenthetically, by "as presented on your menu."

markk - did you feel the same way about the croquettas as molto e? In theory, they sound great (especially for a blue funk lover like me). But, I would expect to taste duck, although soft molten blue cheese doesn't sound all that bad to me.

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I do not mean to diss her food at all and perhaps the croquettas my night were a bit off but the filling was too runny

[ulterior epicure]

I do not mean to diss her food at all and perhaps the croquettas my night were a bit off but the filling was too runny.

I didn't read your comment as such; everyone has their tastes and preferences. Certainly, I appreciate you noting it for my reference. I trust you, molto e.

[molto e]

I do not mean to diss her food at all and perhaps the croquettas my night were a bit off but the filling was too runny.

I didn't read your comment as such; everyone has their tastes and preferences. Certainly, I appreciate you noting it for my reference. I trust you, molto e.

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you will enjoy it there...the lighting is a bit tricky for photos though

[ulterior epicure]

you will enjoy it there...the lighting is a bit tricky for photos though

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You certainly seemed to manage it well. Any tips? I'll also be going during the post-autumnal equinox... earlier sunsets... *sigh*

[markk]

markk - did you feel the same way about the croquettas as molto e?  In theory, they sound great (especially for a blue funk lover like me).  But, I would expect to taste duck, although soft molten blue cheese doesn't sound all that bad to me. 

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The first time-period that I was there, the croquettas had "jamon" instead of the duck. The duck replaced the "jamon" when I came back several months later. I think that both are exquisite for the reasons you speculate above, but it is true that the taste of duck doesn't sail through the cheese; however, I wouldn't consider that a reason not to order them. I know that they are in constant worry about their food never becoming complacent, and constantly try to shake things up a bit to keep the excitement going. I have seen many dishes undergo subtle changes over time. But I can't think of any dishes I've regretted ordering, or that I wouldn't happily order again.

The servers there will aid you tremendously. They are incredibly knowledgeable in the preparation and taste of the dishes, and will discuss these to your heart's content. The reason that I personally eat there so many times in a row is that from my very first visit, I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store. Though I had had a restaurant-plan for the ten days I was there, once I hit Michy's I left each night feeling that I had to go back the next night and eat through more of the menu. In fact, that's how I eat when I travel. When I get a great meal and remember that at the beginning of the meal I had trouble deciding what to order because of how good everything seemed, I just cancel my plans and go back the next night; and if I get a great meal the next night and still see things I want to try, I go back again. The longest I ever did this was in Rome, in 1973, where I hit upon a place my second night and went back for the next 21 nights (not counting their closed night) until I had to leave the country. Yes, I may miss out on other restaurants, but I feel that I get a very full enjoyment out of the ones I concentrate on.

I didn't follow your posts closely enough to see how much time in Miami, but if I were you, I'd obviously eat as many dinners here as I had nights in Miami. Then again, this isn't the only thing that people cite when they try to have me taken away by the men with the butterfly nets.

[ulterior epicure]

Well, I admire your stamina, markk... clearly, you can't get enough of a good thing when you find one.

I didn't follow your posts closely enough to see how much time in Miami, but if I were you, I'd obviously eat as many dinners here as I had nights in Miami.  Then again, this isn't the only thing that people cite when they try to have me taken away by the men with the butterfly nets.

While I might not mind eating at Michy's (if I find it as pleasing as you did) three nights in a row, I'm not sure my parents, for whom this trip is really for (despite the fact that I'm being somewhat autocratic with the restaurant arrangements) would endure the same restaurant for that many back-to-back repeats. This is all of our first trips to Miami, I think we (I, especially) want to get a good sampling of the Miami food scene.

[Miami Danny]

Lord, why call them 'Blue Cheese, Shredded Duck and Jamon Croquetas, if they contain/one can discern only one of three items? Have a meal here, it's fine, but please try something else, too. This place is far from perfect.

[markk]

my parents, for whom this trip is really for...

Well, I don't mean to be indelicate here, but by any chance, any stretch of the imagination, are they interested in Jewish food? Would they by any chance (not prying you realize ) enjoy a meal of chopped liver, stuffed cabbage, etc. at one of the remaining Jewish places...?

[sprmario]

I had a great meal at Michy's in March. There was one big miss that night, and 2 dishes that i felt were underwhelming.

Highlights:

White Gazpacho - excellent. Great texture and mix of flavors. Probably the best dish of the night. I ordered a half portion.

Seared Scallop over a Hearts of Palm salad w/ a very nice citrus vinagrette and a mix of citrus wedges. This was a special and it was excellent. The scallop was perfectly cooked and the salad had a great mix of sweet and tartness.

Baked Alaska - this is a great dessert here and is well deserving of it's acclaim. The merengue was silky and light.

Truffled Plenta w/ Poached Egg - great flavors and texture. Loved it.

Excellent but uninspired:

All three of the following dishes were great, but were not innovative in the least.

Fall off the Bone Short Ribs - I think braised short ribs are hard to mess up. I made some the following week that were honestly just as tender and tasty. There just is nothing special about this dish but it is executed perfectly.

Tuna Tartare - same as above. We shouldn't have ordered this. It was just great tuna well prepared.

Steak Frite - Nothing special at all about this dish. Well executed though. The fries were perefectly done. The steak was a piece of skirt steak. meh.

Dissappointing (big miss):

Wahoo Paella - this dish was just bad. I would have sent it back but everything else was great and it was one of the last dishes delivered and it was only a half portion and we were pretty full anyway. The rice was incredibly crunchy and hard.

It seems as if she is really changing her menu a lot. A number of the items shown on this thread recently were not on the menu back then in March.

I had really wanted to try the Jamon and blue cheese croquettes but they were not on the menu when we went. In researching the items to eat this one was highlighted as a can't miss dish. I remember no mention of duck in the croquettes... maybe a newer addition?

We will definately go back.

[markk]

I just returned from a few days in Miami (went down specifically for a concert by operatic tenor Juan Diego Florez at the Carnival Center) and of course took my meals at Michy's (except for a pre-theater meal at Mo's Deli in Aventura, an extravaganza of delicious Jewish foods, though as some in my party said, maybe not what you want to eat before sitting through a concert unless you were born with a Jewish digestive tract) though I digress..

We tried several brand new dishes from Michy's menu.

"Not Your Grandmother's Chicken Livers" was a truly sublime mousse of chicken livers (and probably more cream than I want to know I was eating) and rivaled some great versions of this dish that we've had in France:

The first night we got there, although there were no sweetbreads on the menu, they were running them as a special that night, over what they called a "cassoulet" of beans, though it wasn't reduced and thick, but a very light and totally tantalizing concoction that really did enhance the sweetbreads themselves - and that night as the special they had a shaving of black truffle on them, though we discovered that they were added to the menu the next night (minus the black truffle) and still every night they were truly delicious:

We also had a "giant prawn" that was grilled with fresh tarragon and served over a creamed-corn concept, that was thoroughly delicious:

And we had an old favorite that had returned to the menu which we had never photographed before, Seafood Linguine with Tiny Seafood, which is a dice of lots of fresh seafood and shellfish in a very delicious and sensuous dark seafood reduction that tastes a lot like her famous Bouillabaisse, and is just a great dish:

We had the braised short ribs again and found them better than we remembered from the unctuous texture of the meat - I had thought I was short-ribbed out (especially since I had just had them as "flanken" at Mo's the night before), but they were great, and we chose to accompany them with the current incarnation of the Truffled Polenta, which this time came with a fricasse of exotic mushrooms, and was thoroughly delicious:

And it was several nights of very delicious meals. Of course we've been there so many times now that the entire staff comes over to visit and fawn over us, and Michelle herself came by our table to welcome us back, so while my judgment might be affected by my emotional attachment to this place now, I do think that the food was as delicious as it was the first time we were tempted to go back for more oh so many meals ago.

[ulterior epicure]

markk - excellent. Thanks for this report. Anymore pictures to share? Do you post on flickr? If so, I'd be obliged to see any and all pictures of the food. These portions seem ginormous to me. This is a good thing, as I will be headed there with three others in tow, and I suppose the sharing will be good...

... no sweets?

[markk]

markk - excellent.  Thanks for this report.  Anymore pictures to share?  Do you post on flickr?  If so, I'd be obliged to see any and all pictures of the food. 

... no sweets?

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The photos are on my site mark-eats.com - just choose Michy's from the menu.

I'm not a big dessert person, but I pick at what's ordered. I'll try to post some for you.

The full orders are made for family-style sharing, so if you're comfortable picking away communally with the people you're going with, just order up a storm and dig-in.

[ulterior epicure]

The photos are on my site mark-eats.com - just choose Michy's from the menu.

I'm not a big dessert person, but I pick at what's ordered.  I'll try to post some for you.

The full orders are made for family-style sharing, so if you're comfortable picking away communally with the people you're going with, just order up a storm and dig-in.

That's the way I like eating with my family. I love how the menu has things portioned out for half and full sizes. It seems to encourage diggin'!

[ulterior epicure]

After more than a year of hearing about Michelle Bernstein's splash, Michy's, onto the national restaurant scene, I finally made it. First, a hardy thanks to all those on this forum who gave me so much prepping.

I won't go into the details of the restaurant - the decor, location, etc. Most here seemed well-versed with these ancillaries. The only thing I will say is that the wall paper trimming and pattern (dark blue with white and orange floral print) looked nearly identical to the decor of my dining room growing up in the 80's. With that, I'll get down to the food.

In a nutshell - the food was good, (overly) pricey, and satisfying. It's exactly what I expected it to be - down home comfort foods with a slight upmarket twist.

Our table managed to order (and eat):

Oysters (Fancy Gourmets)

Finocchiana Salami (by itself)

Watercress Salad (full order)

Roasted Beet Salad (full order)

Bibb Lettuce Salad (full order)

Blue Cheese & Jamon Croquetas (half order)

Fennel & Orange Crusted Sweetbreads (half order)

Truffled Polenta (half order)

Florida Pompano (half order)

Shortribs Falling Off the Bone (full order)

Michy's Bread Pudding

Quatro Leches Baked Alaska

I won't attempt to bore you with a play-by-play of each dish. If you want to read about any particular dish (and see the photos), you may do so by clicking here.

This one meal yielded the following observations about Michy's:

1. Everything - from the fish, to the meat, to the salads were executed (i.e. cooked) properly.

2. The flavors were all spot on. Save the watercress salad, which was a tad over-seasoned (i.e. salty), everything had a nice balanced, but wild and gutsy, flavor. My group happened to all prefer bold-flavored foods (as a side note, we also stand up to and welcome spice heat readily). Everything impressed.

3. Presentations ranged from whimsical (like the Bibb Lettuce Salad, which looked like a squat garden-borne Christmas tree decked with cherry tomato and radish ornaments and grated Jack cheese tinsel) to what a good chef friend of mine calls "poop n' scoop" (like the Sweetbreads, Truffled Polenta, and Short Ribs). What he (and I) mean by this is that it's sloppy, usually scoopable, and not particularly attractive - but usually (though not always in a place like Kansas City) very tasty. Some, like the Florida Pompano and the Roasted Beet Salads were a bit clumsy in presentation. The roasted beets looked like a pile of "something" which was remotely made edible-looking by the cannister whip cream-like rossette of "horseradish crema" on top.

4. Judging by our meal, Bernstein does comfort food best. Our most enjoyable courses fell into the "poop n' scoop" category. The short ribs, which, indeed, had fallen off the bone (they were served without the bones on a bed very creamy mashed potatoes) were meltingly soft and and incredibly moist. The twist to this rather down-home dish was in the accompanying Moroccan-spiced carrots and sauce, which hit a most enjoyable musky note - turning the rather familiar stew-like meat into something otherworldly. The Truffled Polenta, as mentioned my many others as a favorite, truly was wonderful. It's the kind of food that makes you want to crawl into the bowl and take a nice long nap in in the stuff. The polenta was soft and pillowy, the fricasse of mushrooms added a nice meaty beefiness (both flavor and texture), and the egg provided the right amount of velvety richness. I'm a sucker for white truffle oil - and a good dose of that didn't hurt the dish either.

5. Across the table, the most disappointing dish of the night was the controversial "Blue Cheese & Jamon Croquetas." I won't belabour you with the details of my discontent - you can read them here. Suffice it to say here, they were bland and the centers were unexpectedly runny which made eating them problematic. The accompanying fig marmalade, however, was a treasure. The other slight disappointer was the veal sweetbreads, which I found skimpy. The half portion, with only two nuggets of sweetbreads, really ended up being more about the duck sausage and vegetable cassoulet than the sweetbreads. The crust, which tasted very little, if anything, of orange, on the sweetbreads was so thick that I'm not sure I could have guessed what was in them if I hadn't known.

6. The one dish that truly surprised me was the Florida Pompano. While I think $20 was just a tad on the expensive side for the portion we got (three tiny fillet sections on a bed of lentils), I must say that the execution was perfect. The fish was piping hot and flaky and moist on the inside. The curried lentils, however, was what made the dish sing. Perfectly-cooked lentils are a hard commodity in restaurants today. These were *perfect.* I loved Michy's curry blend (I wish I knew what kind she uses - or the recipe) - together with the fish and warm tomato vinaigrette, it made a most holy trinity.

7. The Finocchiana Salami was a novelty. It was a treat. I want to know their pickling method for the accompanying vegetables (I'm assuming they do them in-house); they had a nice spicy kick to them. I wish I could have had time to come back (or a third stomach) to try their other salami. I was tempted by their cheese plate, but after hearing their rather pedestrian selection of the day, I passed.

8. I'm not generally a dessert person. All I'll say here is that Michy's desserts are very sweet (in the flavor sense of the word). The bread pudding was more like a bread stew (swamp?) instead of pudding.

9. Service was pretty outstanding. In fact, of the five meals I had in Miami that I'm reporting on, this was tied at the top with the service we received at Joe's Stone Crab. The only flaw I can mention is that there were a few moments when it seemed helpless trying to wave someone down. Part of the confusion was that we were served, pretty evenly, by two different people - we didn't know which, or whom, we should request. But, I'd have to say, the staff was refreshingly casual - charming at times - yet professional. The sommelier had excellent suggestions and was most accommodating.

10. Value: I hate dickering about price. However, on a very minor note, in my opinion, the food, though good, tended to be just a bit over-priced. I respect that Chef Bernstein uses high quality ingredients and has impeccable execution, but considering the whole, I think a few dishes were just a tad high. The croquetas ($8 for 3), and the short ribs ($28 for full) come to my mind. The half portion sweetbreads would have felt more appropriate a couple dollars less - for two pieces of sweetbreads. As stated, I felt like I was paying more for the (very good) duck sausage in the vegetable cassoulet.

Overall, we had a solid meal. I'm not sure that Michy's could have done anything to make our experience any better. It was what it was. And, for that, I liked it.

Edited November 3, 2007 by ulterior epicure (log)

[DTBarton]

Hit Michy's again for two nights last week. Still very impressed with the food and service.

All excellent were the fois gras on the corn cake, the polenta (replacing the pancetta with wild mushrooms was a great idea), gnocchi with duck sausage, ceviche (garnished with corn nuts, fun, innovative, and good), bread pudding and baked alaska.

We also got an order of country ham to go with raw oysters, a combo that worked out well to our southern palates.

Good, but not as impressive to us was the pork belly with clams. I don't think this piece of pork belly had been cooked as much as the recipe intended, perhaps.

Service was first rate from all involved. Very nice recommendations from the sommelier, and since we went two nights in a row, we were treated like returning royalty the second night. Greeted by the chef, who was spending a good bit of Friday night in the front of the house, they sent us many gratis goodies. Glasses of sparking wine with croquettes to start and a stunning sweet sherry to finish with our baked alaska. Nice to be treated that way for simply being a repeat customer, not "somebody".