His first job was a “stage” at the illustrious Hotel Bristol in Paris, which was quickly followed by a position at the Hotel Pierre in New York, under Executive Chef Joseph Melz. In 1976, Michael cooked under the tutelage of France’s renowned Michel Guérard, first in the kitchen of Regine’s private club in Paris and later at the opening of Regine’s New York. Eventually he made his way to Eugenie-les-Bains, Guérard’s three-star flagship restaurant and spa in southwestern France, where he worked as Commis Poissonier and then as Saucier. Three years later, again under the auspices of Michel Guérard, Michael worked on the estate of Swiss entrepreneur Henri Lavanchy as his personal chef. While there, he completed another “stage” at the two-star Chapon Fin restaurant in Bordeaux. Returning to Switzerland, Michael became Chef de Cuisine of one of the day’s top three Swiss restaurants, Max Kehl’s two-star Chez Max in Zurich.

Michael crossed the Atlantic once more in 1984 to become Chef de Cuisine at the venerable La Caravelle in NYC, then in its 25th year. He was only the third chef in the restaurant’s history, and the first American to hold the position. The restaurant achieved a second star in The New York Times rating during his four-year tenure.

Union Square Cafe became Michael’s home in 1988, and six months later The New York Times elevated it to three stars. In 1993, Michael became Danny Meyer’s partner. Over the years, Union Square Cafe has moved from a 21st ranking in the New York City Zagat Survey to the Number One Most Popular Restaurant in 1997-2002 – a record! After its sister restaurant Gramercy Tavern took over the top spot in 2003, USC rose to the top yet again in 2004, becoming the first restaurant in Zagat’s history to reclaim the number one position. In addition, USC also received the James Beard Outstanding Restaurant of the Year 1997. To share with others their passion for gastronomic pleasures, Danny and Michael collaborated in writing two cookbooks, The Union Square Cafe Cookbook, published by Harper Collins (1994) and Second Helpings (2001).

Over the course of his career, Michael has been extremely honored to be the recipient of various nominations and awards. This includes The James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in New York City, which he was nominated seven times and won in 2001. He’s also been nominated for Food & Wine Magazine’s top Ten Chefs in the U.S.A. In 2000, he was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America. In 1997, he kicked off The New York Times’ weekly column “The Chef” with series of eight articles. As a founding partner of Tabla, which opened in the fall of 1998, he helped to create an exciting dining experience that marries New American cuisine with the spices of India. Michael was also a founding partner of Blue Smoke, an urban Barbeque restaurant which opened in 2002. In addition to his role as Chef at USC, Michael is a partner in Union Square Hospitality Group, which now includes some of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in NYC: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, and The Modern, Café 2 and Terrace 5 at the Museum of Modern Art.