
So I finally decide to take the plunge and give Michy's a try. I must admit up front that I'm a big
Michelle Bernstein fan since the Azul days so there might be some biased in me. And quite frankly,
Sra. Martinez is one of my favorite places going on in Miami right now.
So with that said, I went into Michy's over the weekend with high expectations and thankfully the food did not disappoint. Despite a growing restaurant empire, Bernstein makes sure the staff at Michy's still cranks it out at the flagship property.
There was one hiccup in the whole experience however. Despite a reservation made almost a month in advance, we waited about an hour for our table in the small dining room. Apparently there was an anniversary celebration along with a wedding proposal in the same night and guests were lingering longer than expected and enjoying the moment. It’s hard to argue against that, but we were hungry and our faces were running a bit long with impatience. To Michy’s credit, the front of the house was on top of it and extremely apologetic about the situation. Our bar tab was covered and a complimentary order of croquetas stuffed with blue cheese and crispy jamon serrano and fig marmalade were sent our way.
I’ll be honest; I don’t like waiting as much as the next guy, but we gave the restaurant the benefit of the doubt. Heck, giant I wear a tank top on a plane guy will wait 45 minutes to eat ten times the daily recommended sodium levels in one oversized meal at Cracker Barrel or Cheesecake Factory – so we decided we could certainly justify waiting to eat in one of the region’s most lauded restaurants.
I’m glad we waited. As soon as we were seated and began digging into the menu, our server promptly came by to let us know that he heard about our extended wait, apologized on the restaurant’s behalf again and let us know that three appetizers were on their way. Just minutes later, the Peruvian ceviche of the Day with ginger, lime, chilies, corn, and sweet potatoes appeared on the table along dith some more croquetas and a duck confit with a shaved brussel sprout salad, kumquat marmalade, and mustard vinaigrette. Mind you, we’re four people – me and the wife and my boss and his wife. It’s a solid eating crew and we dug into those plates with gusto. Granted we were hungry, but it was really good. Ceviche was perfectly balanced and not swimming in acidity. The croquetas are literally some of the best ever and the confit was solid and duck fatty good.
Since Miami Spice was going on, some of us took full advantage while others ordered a couple things to taste off the menu. We ended up sharing everything in between all of us and a few of the highlights included truffled polenta with poached eggs and bacon bits; a watermelon Greek salad with tomatoes, olives, French feta cheese, cucumbers, tinto vinaigrette and zahtar spice; fettuccine carbonara with smoked bacon, crispy jamon serrano, prosciutto and melting St. Andre; and crispy fennel dusted sweetbreads with fava bean pesto, fresh favas, oranges and caraway veal jus. We also ate some yellowtail snapper, roasted cod and seared salmon plus some crazy tender short ribs. It was a little overboard and quite foodgasmic.
We also drank Rose Muga Rioja and some killer French sparkling Cabernet Franc from Chateau Tour Grise throughout the meal. By this point, I could barely reach the table and was sliding in and out of consciousness while dreaming about taking off my shoes and curling up on the couch under the warm glow of SportsCenter when all of a sudden dessert showed up. It included warm bread pudding with raisins, cognac, chocolate chunks and vanilla ice cream, and some tropical fruit upside down cake. If those desserts from Miami Spice weren’t enough to put us over the edge, Michy’s also brought out a crazy good Baked Alaska (aka Sarah Palin) which featured cake, dulce de leche ice cream, Italian meringue and passion fruit salsa as an additional thank you for waiting so long token. I quietly slipped into a food coma.
So in the end, was I swayed by Michy’s generosity following a crazy long wait? Of course I was – I’m human. But after thinking back on it, it wasn’t the free dishes that made the impact; it was the execution and depth of flavor in the food. The food was simply great and right on the money. We got to try a large portion of the menu that night and there was not one dish that I had which I would have been disappointed ordering on its own.

Some in past reviews about Michy’s have complained about the portion sizes, but I would argue that while small on a TGI Friday’s scale - they are rightly sized. It’s also nice to have full or half sized options, which encourages sharing. It’s certainly not cheap, but neither are the ingredients on the menu or where they’re sourced from. At the same time it’s not overly priced. I thought it was perfectly balanced for an uptown bistro which is what I envisioned that Michelle Bernstein and her husband were originally going for when opening Michy’s back in 2005.
The place has a cool vibe to it and I’m certainly glad I gave it a shot. Michy’s, along with Sra Martinez, are about amazing ingredients, layered flavors and simplicity. Michelle Bernstein’s dishes don’t need heavy handed techniques and deconstructed foam to make them work. They’re good because it’s the food she loves to eat. There is a reason why she is a James Beard Award winner and I am definitely a fan. Plus she is a local chick and that’s just awesome. Rock on Michelle and keep making it happen.