First lunch at Michael’s in 1995. Playboy magazine had flown me in from Moscow where I got an exclusive interview with the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, then president of Russia.
It feels like everyone is in the room, which shines with its minimalist design, beautiful flower arrangements and dramatic windows overlooking the tranquil garden behind.
In that regard, it seems that much has not changed about this now legendary place, where media moguls, politicians, real estate magnates and museum heads all meet to “see and be seen.”
Wednesday night, Michael’s celebrated his 35th birthday. It’s still a Midtown power lunch scene (the Cobb salad remains a fixture). But it has also been extended to power breakfast (coffee, green juice and blueberry crepe pancakes) and dinner (single Dover).
There is also a happy hour where Chef Kyung Up Lim’s duck confit bao, Korean fried chicken or shrimp and Korean steak salad cups are served.
Owner Michael McCarty, 71, still presides over the namesake restaurant, making the rounds from table to table at 24 W. 55th St.
McCarty, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, brought clean California seasonal cooking to New York when it opened in 1989. He also helped introduce New Yorkers to a large collection of Napa wines back when Midtown was still dominated by French restaurants.
The decor features art by his wife, artist Kim McCarty, as well as Cy Twombly, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler and Marcel Duchamp. Robert Graham has reliefs in the foyer and in the garden – panels from the 1984 Olympics; Dennis Hoppers photo is in the bathroom.
On Wednesday morning, over coffee in a crowded, crowded room, McCarty pointed to the table in the back where Jasper Johns had enjoyed sitting every day for a month while working on his 1996/1997 retrospective at the nearby Museum of Modern Art.
“He would sit in the back with Cy Twombly and the conspiracy,” McCarty said.
This is where George Stephanopoulos and President Bill Clinton once reconciled, McCarty continued, pointing to another table. And Graydon Carter sat “at Table 7 – the last smoking table in New York” – with Fran Lebowitz, Liam Neeson and the late Natasha Richardson.
“He would sit there, puff away and talk for hours,” McCarty said.
At the time, smoking was still allowed in New York at bars and bar tables that were at least eight feet from restaurants, McCarty added.
The McCartys are in from Malibu twice a month. Michael’s in Santa Monica recently celebrated its 45th birthday.
“These restaurants are fraternal twins,” McCarty said. “Hollywood types would come here to meet their agents and have a place to have lunch.”
One of the secrets to Michael’s success is having a great staff, led by General Manager Steve Millington, who greets guests by name, and maitre ‘d’s Loréal Sherman and Joana Andrade, along with chef Lim. Everything has been at Michael’s for over 20 years.
And yes, guests’ preferences are recorded in the computer system- and guests are consulted daily to ensure that their needs are met and the fine art of seating arrangements is created.
“We have preshift meetings before lunch and dinner to discuss any special arrangements or needs that our guests may have,” said Millington. “It can be as simple as no lemon with Diet Coke or as complex as a gluten allergy or a sesame seed allergy. Birthdays are also very important.”
Some of the nation’s top chefs also got their start at Michaels, including Nancy Silverton, Jonathan Waxman, Brooke Williamson, Sang Yoon, Miles Thompson, and Brian Bornemann.
“I think the key (to staying relevant) is that you’re always evolving,” McCarty said. “You have to know what’s happening around you and you have to have ideas. Restaurants come and go quickly because it’s just a thought. But people go back to the standards. You develop classics, Latin in the world of food, and you make sure you know all your clients .
In some cases, it also means “doing weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthdays and then commemorations! Five-stop shopping with the same people. It’s all about evolution – not mutation. Don’t change for a whim. It’s your soul.”
