Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Grand Cayman

When local favorites take on challenges elsewhere, you root for them, like when Shockey was starting for the Giants, or when the Barry University basketball team were all starting...their exciting new careers in indemnity insurance! Go State Farm!!! To support a local chef taking his talents international, hop a flight to Michael's Genuine Grand Cayman

After three years of accolades in Miami, and a just-received James Beard Award, Michael Schwartz's opening MGF Grand Cayman with a dockside location in the town of Camana Bay, featuring a warm bistro feel thanks to an open kitchen and wood-burning oven, tons of windows, outdoor seating, and eventually a chef's garden that'll turn out daily fruits, veggies, and herbs, which you should not hang out with, as then people will think you too are a loser. As with Miami, the menu's in constant flux, and divides into snacks/small/medium/large/extra large portions, with snacks repped by homemade organic ricotta & local carrie mango jam crostini, while small standouts include local wahoo ceviche w/ island-grown papaya, avocado, & citrus, plus a salad w/ arugula, pickled radish, and crispy pig ear, which can't hear a thing women say. Moving up in size, there's a medium duck confit w/ cauliflower mash and pear raisin chutney, large wood oven-roasted local swordfish w/ pancetta & lemon aioli, large grilled Fudge Farms pork chop w/ braised local callaloo, local pumpkin puree, mango chutney, and an XL wood oven-roasted whole local snapper w/ roasted fennel, smoked fleur de sel, fennel pollen, and grilled lemon, which has a real sour attitude after they put the squeeze on it

Happy hour is serious business in Grand Cayman, and Michael's complies with innovative cocktails like the Cabarete (Aperol, St. Germain, Prosecco, fresh watermelon juice) and a serious beer list including Left Hand Milk Stout, Belgium's Orval Trappist Ale, and Storm King stout from Pennsylvania's Victory -- also what you yell after scoring...the big Lynch lake house policy! Insurance rules!!!