Michelle Bernstein’s pop-ups popping back up for Art Basel

The Garden Cafe by Michelle Bernstein
The Garden Cafe by Michelle Bernstein

South Florida’s famed chef Michelle Bernstein will bring back her pop-up restaurants for Art Basel Miami Beach during the week of Nov. 30 to Dec. 6.

Michy’s Pop Up and Café by Michelle Bernstein will return to the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, at 2000 Convention Center Drive, across the street from the Miami Beach Convention Center, her company has announced.

The Garden Café by Michelle Bernstein will serve breakfast and lunch, and the Michy’s Pop Up restaurant will offer dinner.

michelle bernstein

Michelle Bernstein

Bernstein launched the pop-ups with her husband and business partner David Martinez in 2013, as the official caterer for Art Basel’s Miami Beach events.

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The Garden Café by Michelle Bernstein will open on Monday, Nov. 30, serving breakfast and lunch dishes like carrot miso soup with crispy leeks; tomato and burrata salad with arugula, beets and crunchy bread; rotisserie chicken salad sandwich with candied pistachios and dried cranberries on brioche; and Meyer lemon and thyme grilled fresh fish with greens, Cerignola olives and salsa verde. The Garden Café by Michelle Bernstein will feature table service as well as a grab n’ go option.

The Michy’s Pop Up will begin offering dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 2.  Housed inside the Botanical Garden’s Banyan Room as well as on its terrace, it will feature a fresh daily menu, including an array of small plates, as well as a premium bar and wine list.  Reservations will be required for dinner.

Dishes will range from creamy polenta with truffle poached egg and braised short ribs with roasted root vegetables to fettucine carbonara with smoked bacon and crispy Jamón Serrano, and Greek yogurt panna cotta with watermelon soup, fresh lychees and passion fruit gelée.

“When we launched the pop-up in 2013 Michy’s (the chef’s flagship restaurant in Miami) was open and it existed as an extension of that,” Bernstein said in a statement.  “In 2015 we closed, remodeled and relaunched Michy’s as CENA, with a new look, concept and menu. The return of Michy’s as a pop-up this year means a lot to us and we’re excited to serve some of Michy’s classics as well as new dishes when we open our doors in December.” Ina Cordle