Michael's Genuine: Where the Art Crowd Meets to Eat

Oscar Wilde said that life imitates art. But when it comes to lunchtime at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink—particularly during Art Basel Miami Beach—you could take that further, saying life here thoroughly embodies art. Since opening in 2007, Michael’s has become the food-fueled lunch hive for the collectors, curators, and creators who populate the upper stratospheres of the global art scene.

	TOP: Burrata cheese and heirloom tomato salad. BOTTOM: Pear and pistachio baklava with frozen Greek yogurt

Perhaps the place has such intense Basel buzz because it draws tastemakers year round—the Design District houses more than its share of the city’s innovators. But most likely the reason for all of the above is that chef/ owner Michael Schwartz and pastry chef extraordinaire Hedy Goldsmith create food as an artist might. “He uses things that are accessible to me and transforms them into the way they should be,” says Natasha Duwin, an artist contributing to this month’s Pulse Miami Contemporary Art Fair. “I taste the dishes and always say, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ He does food the way I make art.”

At this point, there’s also quite a bit of a cachet. Schwartz can count celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Calvin Klein, Robert De Niro, and Pharrell Williams among his roster of regulars. The art world is dialed in, too. “If you look closely, you can see all the major players in the art world,” says collector Dennis Scholl, who gushes about the restaurant’s burrata cheese and heirloom tomato salad, as well as the pan-roasted chicken. “It’s where the really big deals get made and people are huddled together, dividing up the spoils of the art world.” Craig Robins, whose DACRA real estate development company is credited with transforming the Design District from seedy to stylish, applauds the culinary and artistic allure of Michael’s Genuine, and points out that the place also happens to be walking distance from the de la Cruzes’ art collection as well as Robins’s own, which is showcased at his corporate headquarters. “Michael’s is my favorite place to be,” he says. “And during Art Basel, the Design District is one of the more exciting places in the world.”

Designers and architects also swarm during Basel. Last year, after landscape designer Fernando Wong spent $750,000 on a Botero sculpture on behalf of a client, he headed straight to Michael’s Genuine for a wood-oven pizza with short ribs and caramelized onions—a meal facilitating an introduction that eventually resulted in a new project, a prime acre of property owned by philanthropist Allison Weiss Brady. “Michael’s Genuine is like the canteen of Art Basel,” he laughs. “Everyone ends up there at some point. It’s a good use of your time.”