At Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, James Beard Award-winning chef/owner Michael Schwartz (47) shares his passion for where food comes from. His flagship Miami restaurant opened in the Design District in 2007, followed by a sister Michael’s Genuine in Grand Cayman in 2010 and Harry’s Pizzeria, a low-key neighborhood joint which just opened in fall 2011, serving up seasonally inspired pizzas from a wood-burning oven.

According to the chef, the secret to good food is… good food. Diners have come to embrace and crave the type of cuisine that Schwartz does best – homemade and straightforward – from house-cured heritage meats and homemade seasonal fruit jams to wood-fired whole local fish and colorful salads. Menus change daily because they emphasis fresh, local ingredients in season and arriving on the doorstep from nearby farmers, fishermen, and ranchers. The chef shares this philosophy in his first cookbook, Michael’s Genuine Food: Down to Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat, released February 2011.

Outside of the restaurant, Schwartz focuses his time and influence supporting the arts and giving back through grass roots projects that nurture sustainable food systems in underprivileged parts of the community and its schools. Schwartz currently resides in Miami Beach, FL with his wife Tamara and three children, Ella, Lulu, and Harry.

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