Michael McCarty is the owner of two restaurants, Michael’s in Santa Monica, which opened in 1979, and Michael’s on West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which followed a decade later. McCarty is truly the father of California cuisine,  at the center of a culinary movement that produced top Los Angeles chefs like Jonathan Waxman, Mark Peel, Nancy Silverton, and many others. I had so much to ask Michael, and he was happy to go over his deep history in the American restaurant scene. We hear about how he moves between the coasts with ease and how he thinks about the legacy of Michael’s after more than 40 years in the game. Michael McCarty is a living legendy, and we hope you enjoy this conversation.

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MORE FROM MICHAEL MCCARTY:

• Did This Man Invent the Modern Restaurant? [Los Angeles Times]

• Awkward Run-Ins, Big Deals Revealed by 27 VIPs in Dishy Oral History [HW]

• Still Busy After All These Years [Forbes]