From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best New Restaurant

October 18 2006

Michy's
6927 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, 305/759-2001

"Michy" is Michelle Bernstein, a Miami native who trained with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York before deciding to express her artistry through her cooking. Her career instincts proved as reliable as her talent in the kitchen. Bernstein made her fame as chef at chichi places in Coral Gables and Miami Beach, but she has chosen a gritty stretch of Federal Highway for this 60-seater, where nearly every item is also available in half-portions. Bernstein insists on using only fresh ingredients and has a gift for punctuating dishes with native fruits, exotic jams and imported nuts. She can be subtle and alluring, as with a gazpacho (chilled soup) that is poured over grapes, cucumber, Spanish almonds and dill. And she can transport you to a culinary heaven with her seared foie gras served on a corn cake. Bernstein opened Michy's with her husband, David Martinez, in February and by June, Bon Appétit had named it one of the Hot 10 restaurants in the United States. We can't speak for the rest of the country, but Michy's is as sizzling as it gets in these parts.