Brief Description:

Michael’s debuted in Santa Monica in 1979. From the beginning, we have dedicated ourselves to offering our guests the finest food and wine, presented with casual yet impeccable service in rooms filled with modern art treasures. (A decade later, Michael’s opened a second location, in midtown Manhattan.)

An American restaurant, Michael’s is renowned for developing a classic contemporary cuisine that constantly evolves with new ideas and ingredients. Wine aficionados and beginners alike will find a world of outstanding, intriguing selections on our award-winning wine list, which includes more than eight hundred labels from California, France, Italy, and other wine-growing regions—as well as the latest vintages from proprietor Michael McCarty’s own Malibu Vineyard.

Our beautiful dining room and romantic outdoor garden patio are filled with works by some of today’s greatest contemporary artists, including David Hockney, Robert Graham, Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, and Kim McCarty. Our three private rooms on the restaurant’s second floor can accommodate 6 to 40 guests, ideal for business dinners and other private social events.

Michael McCarty opened Michael's Santa Monica in 1979, at the age of 25. An instant success, it remains one of the most acclaimed and popular restaurants in the United States, as has the New York branch of Michael's which opened in midtown Manhattan in 1989.

From the beginning, Michael and his team have dedicated themselves to offering their guests the finest food and wine, presented with casual yet impeccable service in rooms—and, at Santa Monica, a legendary garden patio—filled with modern art treasures.

An American restaurant, Michael's is renowned for developing a classic contemporary cuisine that constantly evolves with new ideas and ingredients. Wine aficionados and beginners alike will find a world of outstanding, intriguing selections on the award-winning wine list, which includes more than eight hundred labels from California, France, Italy, and other wine-growing regions—as well as the latest vintages from The Malibu Vineyard, McCarty’s own winery featuring grapes grown on the hillsides surrounding his Pacific-view Malibu home.

Michael was raised in Briarcliff Manor, New York and Rockford, Illinois. His parents' frequent parties and array of great friends gave him an early appreciation for stylish hospitality and good American food. He attended the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and lived in Rennes, France for a year as part of the Andover-Exeter School Year Abroad program, during which he experienced for the first time the artistry, quality, and joie de vivre of French dining.

He went on to study cooking, wines, and hotel and restaurant management in Paris, earning diplomas from the Ecole Hoteliére de Paris, the Cordon Bleu, and the Academy du Vin. In 1974, he returned to the United States, attended Cornell's Summer Hotel Program, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in the Business and Art of Gastronomy from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Michael is married to the painter Kim McCarty, and they have two grown children, daughter Clancy and son Chas. They split their time between Malibu, California, where they live in a hillside home surrounded by The Malibu Vineyards; and an apartment high above Michael's New York.

Devoted followers and patrons of the arts, the McCartys are deeply involved in organizations including the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Santa Monica Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Music Center/Disney Hall/Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County; and the Armory Art Exhibition, New York.

michael@michaelssantamonica.com

Raised just south of the Napa Valley in San Jose, California, Andrew Turner developed a love of wine at an early age. Only after years supporting himself with jobs in restaurants from San Diego to New York and back while he pursued other careers, however, did he finally turn his passion for wine into his vocation.

Andrew joined Michael’s as Sommelier in 2005, an opportunity that has provided him with a wine education he considers second to none. He is continually amazed and appreciative of the opportunities that come through working with creatively talented chefs, interacting with the restaurant’s guests both loyal and brand-new, and managing the 600-entry wine list.

After five years in this position at the restaurant, Andrew took on the role of General Manager in the spring of 2010, while also continuing to direct the restaurant’s wine program. He welcomes the opportunity this responsibility brings him to combine his restaurant experience, his knowledge of pairing wine and food, and the pleasure he takes in sharing the joys of fine dining with our guests.

andrew@michaelssantamonica.com

Michael Stern has been with Michael’s Santa Monica since April 2002. Known in the kitchen as Mikey, he grew up in the L.A. area, and after high school he enrolled in 2000 in Le Cordon Bleu Program at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. While there, Mikey began to work at Michael’s as an extern, rapidly advancing through the posts of Garde Manger, Saute, and Sous-Chef. His meteoric rise, together with his creativity and passion for cooking and his dedication to running an efficient, happy, hard-working brigade, led to his appointment as Executive Chef in the summer of 2007. Mikey promises to be the latest top culinary talent to gain acclaim in the kitchen at Michael’s Santa Monica.

stern@michaelssantamonica.com

Lea moved to Los Angeles from her home town of Denver, Colorado after graduating from Colorado State University with a degree in journalism concentrating on broadcast news and television, with a minor in theater. She started working at Michael’s as a hostess in Spring 2006. After learning from the best, she is now one of our events coordinators, which she finds to be the perfect role with her love for great people, food, wine, and parties—everything for which Michael’s is famous. Lea is happy to be part of the restaurant’s exceptional team and looks forward to working on more fabulous events here. Maybe the next great party will be yours!

lea@michaelssantamonica.com