Welcome to Michael's ─ Great Food, Great People, Great Party!

Michael McCarty has played a major role in defining a uniquely modern American attitude to cooking, dining, and entertaining since 1979, when he opened his first acclaimed Michael"s restaurant in Santa Monica, California. McCarty"s approach, now enjoyed on both coasts with the opening of Michael's New York in 1989, has always been refreshingly simple: start with the best ingredients, cook them in simple ways that highlight their natural qualities, pair them with great wines, and serve them in a relaxed yet stylish setting. The result, in Michael's own words, should be a "great party," which this book makes possible for any home cook. Adding to the lively spirit of Welcome to Michael's are the voices of dozens of luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, the arts, the media, business, politics, and cooking who share their own insightful, sometimes irreverent opinions about the Michael's experience. The result is a book to be savored on many levels: as a guide to cooking for yourself, your family, and your friends and to entertaining with style; as a primer on the rewarding relationship between food and wine; and as an experience that comes as close as words and pictures possibly can to enjoying a meal at one of Michael's restaurants, surrounded by the luminous personalities who dine there.

In 1979, at the age of 25, Michael McCarty founded Michael's, a restaurant in Santa Monica, California. An instant success, it remains one of the most acclaimed and popular restaurants in the United States. Both McCarty, who is the chef and owner, and Michael's have been written about in countless national and international newspaper articles and in numerous magazine features. McCarty currently operates Michael's in New York City and Santa Monica, and lives in Malibu, California with his wife, painter Kim McCarty, and their two children. Liz Smith's famous gossip column is syndicated in more than seventy newspapers. For eleven years, she served as the entertainment editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. A correspondent for The New York Post's Page Six and the author of NATURAL BLONDE and DISHING, Smith lives in New York City.