New Times, Feb 05

"Before Michael's [Kitchen] opened, Blum told us that he wanted to create a restaurant that's "all about the show." He's succeeded. The beautiful open kitchen, flames from the grill reflecting offstainless steel walls; the built-in ovens and state-of-the-art ranges where chefs perform choreographed culinary feats --they're as much an attraction as the food. Blum calls it "Cirque de Soleil dining."

"My yellow fin martini was beautiful: meltingly tender pink chunks of tuna and mandarin oranges set delicately in a giant martini glass over crisp rice noodles. It was topped with a bit of seaweed salad and four chopsticks protruding like the decorative sticks in a geisha’s hairdo…"

“The crispy calamari was also a success: huge, chewy rings, finely crisped on the outside, piled high and served with a rosemary-spiked lemon and a drizzle of pommery lemon aioli. After a quick conference, four of us concluded that these were probably the best calamari anywhere within driving distance. “

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Michael's Kitchen/Hollywood

By Lyn Farmer
Posted January 13 2006

On weekends especially, it can be difficult to get a seat in Michael's Kitchen, perhaps the hottest dining ticket in Hollywood. But once you're in, you're really in Michael Blum's kitchen.

Practically every table in the dining area has a clear view of the cooking area that runs half the length of the room. The cooking area is the center ring in a culinary circus. It is a show, and Blum revels in his role as ringmaster……It’s impossible not to love the energy at Michael’s Kitchen --it is enjoyable as theater and bubbling over with human warmth. Like the portions served there, Michael’s is larger than life..."

Las Olas Magazine, Sept. 05

"Roasted Vegetable Turkey Meatloaf consists of two gigantic slabs of the juiciest ground turkey I’ve ever encountered, perched on top of a pile of mashed potatoes so good my son kept sticking his fingers in them long after his belly was poking out of his shirt."