FEATURED CHEF OF THE MONTH
Interview with: MICHELLE BERNSTEIN
Our featured chef for the month of March is Michelle Bernstein of Miami, whose award-winning restaurants include hotspots Michy and Sra. Martinez. Her cuisine features nods to her Jewish and Latina heritage, as well as ingredients discovered through her travels to such far-flung locales as Italy and Japan. Here she tells us about making the graceful leap from professional ballerina to chef, taking advantage of Miami's local ingredients, and sharing her epicurean passion with children from low-income backgrounds.
THE OXFORD AMERICAN: What do you love most about cooking?
MICHELLE BERNSTEIN: The fact that my dishes can change every day.
THE OA: Did you like to cook as a child? How did the meals you ate growing up incorporate the Jewish and Argentine cultures of your parents?
MB: I loved it, I was always in the kitchen with my mom. There were always dishes that had touches of all cultures; but especially Italian/Argentine flavors and styles; even her Jewish food has Latin/Italian touches to it; it sure makes it more tasty.
THE OA: Describe the transition from professional ballerina to professional chef. Did you find that some of the skills or attitudes were transferable, or did you feel as though you were starting from scratch?
MB: They seem so similar in retrospect. So much discipline, so much passion and a lot of economy of movement in both.
THE OA: Have you ever had a disaster in the kitchen?
MB: So many—I can’t count. Dropping a foie terrine into a vat of spicy chocolate was pretty bad. It melted into the chocolate completely; I had six on order!
THE OA: Do you consider Miami “Southern” in any way? If so, how do you incorporate this aspect of regional identity into your cooking?
MB: We have a lot of African and Southern influences. I add many of these ingredients into my cooking. Peanuts, grits, smoked bacon and ham and pork belly, biscuits, and fried chicken are what I’m best known for.
THE OA: Are there any similarities between the comfort food/traditional dishes of the American South and of Latin America?
MB: They are both taught by our mothers and grandmothers, flavorful, loaded with love and some fat to boot!
THE OA: You are lucky to have great weather for most of the year in Miami, but what is your favorite taste of spring?
MB: Fresh beans, young lamb, and ramps (wild leeks).
THE OA: Are you able to source any of your ingredients locally? If so, can you talk about incorporating local ingredients (produce, seafood, etc) into your restaurant menus?
MB: Most of our ingredients are found locally! Tomatoes, corn, snapper and a ton of other fish, shrimp, mussels, greens, strawberries, squash blossoms….
THE OA: The menus at Michy's and Sra. Martinez demonstrate Asian, Latin American, and Spanish influences (to name a few)—and sometimes these cuisines are combined in a single dish, such as the uni (sea urchin) risotto with chimichurri at Sra. Martinez. What inspires you to blend tastes in this way, and how do you achieve harmony between such disparate flavors without allowing them to clash?
MB: I try not to complicate, but rather to give the best flavor to foods that happen to combine well! The results are not strange, just fun and interesting. For example, bone marrow with apples and eel sounds weird, but it’s delicious.
THE OA: Do you have a favorite hole-in-the-wall, inexpensive restaurant in Miami (that you're willing to share)?
MB: Many, but the best is La Camaronera: the most amazing fried shrimp ever!
THE OA: Do you feel that you are still learning as a chef? Is there any "uncharted territory"—cuisines or specific dishes—that you would like to explore next?
MB: I’m always learning; the day that ends is the day I stop cooking…which will never happen. I would love to learn more about barbecue, sous vide cooking, and dehydrating.
THE OA: What is your favorite culinary travel destination?
MB: Oh, no—there are too many! Right now—Spain?
THE OA: Tell us about your involvement with the Common Threads charity, which offers cooking lessons to children from low-income backgrounds.
MB: I cannot tell you how it feels to be able to teach young kids that really need our attention about nutrition, socialization, and sustainability through something as simple as cooking together.
THE OA TEN
1. What superstitions do you have?
I think it’s bad luck to open umbrellas in the house.
2. What would you like to change about yourself?
I wish I were more creative.
3. What are you still trying to accomplish in your professional career?
To be a great manager.
4. What is your hidden talent?
Dance.
5. What subject causes you to rant?
Bloggers.
6. What is the biggest mistake you ever made in your professional life?
Taking a chef position too early in my career.
7. What is one thing that you used to dislike but that you now like?
Mexican food. I know, I know—but I never tasted the real thing until I met my husband. We traveled to Mexico, where I tried the good stuff!
8. What profoundly underrated book, album, or movie would you like to champion for us?
THE DEBT TO PLEASURE, a novel by John Lanchester.
9. What is your favorite line from a song?
“All you need is love.”
10. What was your favorite childhood toy?
Weeble Wobbles.
Photographs courtesy of chefmichellebernstein.com.
