Michelle Bernstein Dishes On TV, Favorite Eats

MIAMI, FL — At this stage in her culinary journey, celebrity Chef Michelle Bernstein would rather discover an unknown “down and dirty” hole in the wall then soak in the Haute cuisine of another Michelin-starred restaurant.

"I think that answer would have been different 10 years ago, but at this point, I would just love down and dirty — just good, simple, yummy food," confided Bernstein, the popular host of "Check Please South Florida" and "SoFlo Taste."

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Indeed, Bernstein's army of amateur reviewers — and diehard fans — has already discovered dozens of such eateries across South Florida. They may still be considered hole-in-the-wall establishments, but they are no longer unknown, thanks to Bernstein’s reach through public television and Miami ABC affiliate WPLG.

See also Extend Summer With Michelle Bernstein's Ice Cream Recipes

"Hy-Vong was my favorite restaurant, forever — and of course, she closed up — Vietnamese on (SW) 8 Street," Bernstein told Patch. "It was this little nothing of a restaurant. But the food was incredible, and the beer was always the best, and the service was always great. It was just awesome, so I would rather have casual."

James Beard Award Winner

A 2008 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: South, 2008, Bernstein is also the author of "Cuisine a Latina," and operates Michelle Bernstein Catering, a full-service catering company, along with Crumb on Parchment, an Atrium-style space for light American fare such as soups, salads and baked goods in the Miami Design District.

A Miami native, Bernstein is a former ballet dancer who changed her path when an injury cut short any hope for a career as a ballerina. Her culinary inspiration is drawn in part from her disciplined ballet background, her cultural roots, travel and family recipes.

"My mother taught me how to cook. I used to literally, after school, be in the kitchen with her for hours cooking all of the Argentine/Italian dishes that we’re known for — empanadas, milanesas, gnocchi — all that good stuff. I always loved to cook with her," said Bernstein, whose husband David Martinez is also her business partner.

"I can’t tell you if it was because I loved being by my mother’s side so much, or because I loved the food, or both. It was exceptional," she recalled of her early kitchen memories.

Patch caught up with the chef as she was promoting Mayfield Creamery, which is now in Publix stores across Florida.

Bernstein created two recipe's for Mayfield's — one with the brand’s Signature Vanilla and the other with its Lemon Ice Box Pie flavor. (See Extend Summer With Michelle Bernstein's Ice Cream Recipes to find out how Bernstein came up with those recipes and her tips for making them at home.)

Getting Picked For The Show

"Check Please South Florida" is popular among both foodies and people who just like to go out for a good meal, in part because the show relies on everyday people for its reviews.

But not everyone has what it takes to get selected.

“It has nothing to do with what you look like. It has everything to do with how you do talking about a restaurant,” Bernstein emphasized. “Some of the people that come to the show have never boiled water. But, you really have to know how to describe things — whether it’s good, bad, ugly — something you don’t know, to something you might know. You just have kind of a fun way to describe it. And so, you have to be kind of good on television without us really knowing if you’re good on television.”

One of the most challenging aspects of getting selected to be on the show is finding a restaurant that isn’t among the nearly 200 restaurants that have already been reviewed. The show only considers restaurants that have been open for at least two years.

The more unusual and unique the suggestion, the better odds of getting picked. No chain restaurants are considered.

Sorry, Red Lobster and Hooters.

Three Favorite Restaurants

Perspective reviewers are asked to share three of their favorite restaurants that check all of the required boxes and then write a few sentences about what makes each one “stand out.”

You can find the online application for the show here.

To be considered, reviewers must have already been to the restaurants they chose for their application and be willing to visit two more South Florida restaurants within a 50-mile radius of their home.

Reviewers receive a stipend to visit the two restaurants suggested by fellow reviewers. Each reviewer must also be free of any financial interest in any of the restaurants they review.

It goes without saying that reviewers must be able to take off for a few hours during the week the program is taped at WPBT public television in North Miami.

“First of all, no one’s allowed to do anything I’ve ever done, because I’ll kick them under the table if they didn’t like it,” Bernstein explained of the requirement.

Surprisingly, only about one in every 20 guests doesn't work out.

“Sometimes we get really lucky. We’ll have three just amazing people that are just so excited to talk about what they’ve experienced and it’s a lot of fun," Bernstein said.

Potential reviewers are asked to provide contact information along with their birth dates, ethnicity and if there is any type of food that they would not eat — like seafood, for example.

They are also asked to choose one of the three South Florida restaurants they selected earlier in the process and write a more detailed description with special attention to menu, décor, service, value and “anything else that stands out.”

This may be posted to the show’s social media accounts or website — regardless of whether the person who submitted it is chosen to be on the show.

Finally, a select few are chosen for a FaceTime call in which they are asked to verbally discuss their review choices.

But even that's no guarantee they will make the final cut.

“Even if your restaurant has been talked about — and everybody loved it — if we call the restaurant and they say, ‘you know what? We’re too concerned that maybe someone didn’t like it, or we have something personal going on, or we just don’t want you filming in here,' then we also have to ixnay those people out," she said.

Personally Visits Restaurants

Bernstein personally visits each restaurant selected for her show and orders the same dishes as her reviewers.

This allows Bernstein to jump in the conversation, particularly if one of her reviewers comes down with a case of stage fright.

Having Bernstein go out to visit restaurants poses its own set of challenges when the affable chef is recognized by restaurant staff.

This was the case at an Indian restaurant she once visited for the show.

“They sent us the whole menu — literally, the whole menu," Bernstein recalled. "We had to sit at a table of 10 — just an array of food that I literally have never seen in my life. It felt like a wedding. I felt like I was sitting at my own wedding. It was amazing.”

Favorite Restaurants

What are some of her favorite restaurants?

"I have so many. You know I’m Jewish, so let’s start with the Asian restaurants because us Jews think that we know our Asian food," she says with a smile. "My favorite is Gabose (Gabose Korean & Japanese) up in Plantation. It’s a Korean restaurant and it’s incredible. You can barbecue your own Korean barbecue at the table.”

One of her favorite Chinese restaurants is Sang’s Food Dim Sum in North Miami Beach.

“You know in the 20-plus years that I’ve been going they still don’t know who I am,” she chuckled.

For Italian, Bernstein's choice is Macchialina of Miami Beach. “To me he makes the best pasta in Miami,” she explained. “His meatballs with the pork cheeks — his polenta on a board — on a wooden board. Just an experience.”

Her favorite French restaurant is Petit Rouge in North Miami.

“That guy makes the best classic French I think that you can get in South Florida,” she declared. But even with all of Bernstein's success, she acknolwedged that she too sometimes has trouble getting reservations at Petit Rouge.

“Call ahead because I’ve been turned down many times," she shared.

Advice To Future Chefs

While Bernstein has enjoyed great culinary success, the long hours and backbreaking work can be dealbreakers for people who think they want a career in the culinary arts.

“Culinary schools are rather expensive," she said. "Before you spend all that money on something you’re not 100 percent sure about — and I do recommend culinary schools later — I suggest you offer yourself up at a restaurant, a restaurant you like, maybe even without pay, just to start for a couple of days a week."

That's what she did and it worked out well.

“Once you realize that it’s something you do love, then go to a good accredited culinary school,” urged Bernstein, who graduated from Johnson & Wales University.

“I also had two jobs at the same time, so I could learn the field much quicker," she explained. "I had a job with a food writer and a job I really wanted to just like submerge — (or) immerse myself completely in the business. I could learn it really fast and learn it really well.”

Photo by Michael Pisarri