Michael’s Unplugged: The Reunion : Big plates. Big art. Big ideas. Big egos. In the first days of California Cuisine, more star chefs passed through the kitchen of Michael’s than any other restaurant in America. Last Sunday, for one afternoon, the chefs came home.

The question was: Would the chefs come back? After all, a lot of them had stormed out of the place in a huff. But last Sunday, heeding the call of a boss some hadn’t worked for in 16 years, Michael McCarty’s star chefs returned to the Santa Monica restaurant where many of them had launched their cooking careers. The occasion was a celebration of Michael’s 16th anniversary, a fund-raiser for local museums, but for most of the gathered chefs, waiters, bartenders and even customers, it was a family reunion.

There was Gordon Naccarato, squeezing his way through the crowded Michael’s patio with a tray of truffle-flecked potatoes. For a time Naccarato was as big a deal to Aspenites as the movie stars he once fed at his restaurant, Gordon’s. Later he opened the Monkey Bar, infamous for its most wanted customer, Heidi Fleiss. “I started here as a waiter !” Naccarato screamed above the noise. “Can you believe it? I was going to be a lawyer.”

Zach Bruell had gone to the Wharton School of Finance and was supposed to head up the family business after college before McCarty got a hold of him. “My father went bananas when I told him what I wanted to do instead,” said Bruell, now of Z’s in Cleveland, as he ladled a Thai-spiced broth over calamari and scallops. “Put it this way: There weren’t many upper-middle class Jewish kids from Shaker, Ohio who wanted to be chefs in those days.”

Martin Garcia, on the other hand, started out as a dishwasher at Michael’s and worked his way up to a seven-year-stint as McCarty’s head chef.

“Do you remember me?” a well-dressed woman asked Jonathan Waxman, who was serving up fried soft-shell crab with a fava bean-tomato ragout. “I took classes from you at Ma Cuisine. You used to tell me to stop looking at all the movie stars.”

The woman’s girlfriend, attracting a lot of stares in her pink vinyl miniskirt and sequined halter top, hiked up her skirt a bit further to give Waxman a better view. Waxman himself, at the height of his fame, once posed for New York’s Daily News on his bed like a sex kitten, dressed only in a kimono, champagne glass in hand.

“Hello!” another woman interrupted. “I remember going to your New York restaurant, Jams, in the ‘80s. Great meals!”

Waxman just smiled. The era of the celebrity chef may have ended, but it made a brief reappearance Sunday.

Of course, the man with the biggest smile of all was McCarty. “Can you believe it?” he kept saying as he worked the room, backslapping and bearhugging and throwing kisses, depending on whom he was greeting. Dressed in his laid-back California uniform--faded jeans, white linen shirt, expensive blazer, tan, and slicked-back hair--the very definition of casual elegance, McCarty was trying to look toward the future, even as he was being surrounded by his past.

“I don’t want Michael’s to be known as an old Chasen’s or Perino’s,” said McCarty who has closed some of the restaurants he opened in the ‘80s, seen others through Chapter 11, and experienced the defeat of his luxury beach hotel project by a vote of environment-conscious Santa Monica citizens and the destruction of his home in the Mailbu fire. “It’s time to put all the bad times behind us. L.A. needs us all. The next few years are going to be great.”

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But before you can look forward, it’s sometimes necessary to look back. McCarty chose to remember the best of his past--the first years of his first restaurant, Michael’s, when California Cuisine was still being codified and anything seemed possible.

“We were all virgins,” said former waiter Jerry Tokunaga. “It was us against the world.”

Michael’s was the restaurant that for better and for worse defined the ‘80s. It had the hype, it had the food and it had the attitude that got the country’s attention. At a time when most fine restaurants were run by French men, Michael’s opened up in 1979 with an All-American crew of young, ambitious chefs, including some women, all with a desire to break the rules that had kept dining out in Los Angeles a stodgy experience.

Jean Bertranou at L’Ermitage and Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison may have opened the door to change in Los Angeles, but the original Michael’s team busted through with a vengeance. There was Ken Frank, all of 23, heading the kitchen and already a demi-star from his time as chef at a small French restaurant. Jonathan Waxman came down from Alice Water’s Chez Panisse in Berkeley, speaking the gospel of freshness and seasonality. Campanile’s Mark Peel had learned his French fundamentals from Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison and became one of the country’s great grill chefs, before returning to Puck as chef at Spago. Jimmy Brinkley took the boring dessert category and turned it into something worth waiting for. McCarty himself was just 25.

“It was like the Celtics in the ‘60s,” said Waxman, thinking back on the original crew, “or the Lakers in the early ‘80s.”

Every position was a star position, a situation that led to a lot of creativity--and a lot of ego bashing.

Frank left after just a few months when he discovered McCarty demanded as much adulation as his chefs. The others eventually moved on to their own projects too. But first, there was a restaurant culture to create.

“Fine dining was so serious in those days,” Naccarato said. “The thinking was that if you mispronounced something, someone would run over and scold you. But Michael knew eating out should be fun.”

There was jazz instead of classical music on the sound system. The waiters wore Ralph Lauren instead of frumpy tuxedos. The lights were turned up so you could read the menu. Bills were tallied on what McCarty calls the first restaurant computer system so that customers could see exactly why their bills was as high as they were--no undecipherable waiter scrawls. Huge pieces of modern California art were hung on the walls where other restaurants put pictures of flowers. The food was presented on big white plates, like frames for a painting, instead of on frilly patterned china. And waiters actually ate the food and drank the wine they served so that they could recommend what they really liked.

Some of McCarty’s ideas were borrowed--some say stolen--but no one had put together a restaurant quite like it before.

“People either love or hate Michael,” Bruell said, “but whatever they say, he was a pioneer.”

“Look at this!” said Peel, holding a copy of the original Michael’s lunch menu brought by former waiter Keith Sloan. “Steak frites, $7. See, we weren’t that expensive. . . . Oh,” he added gravely, “but here, $1.50 already for espresso.”

“Check this out,” Sloan said, taking the menu. “This made it classy: ‘Le Lunch.’ ”

Michael’s quickly dumped the French in favor of the ingredient/source school of menu writing, as in: spaghettini with Chesapeake Bay scallops and Sacramento River Delta crayfish, Chardonnay cream sauce, roasted red and yellow peppers, baby asparagus and Lake Superior golden caviar.

*

The food, called California Cuisine by the press at first, became the working standard of what is now known as Modern American Cuisine. There are hints of Michael’s cooking in restaurants all around the country.

Over at Sally Clarke’s fish-and-chips station, Michael’s original maitre d’, Andy Tsuji worked the deep-fryer; Clarke came directly from the airport in the middle of the party. “We call her the California girl from England,” Tsuji said. She moved back to London to open her own restaurant when she left Michael’s and has become a major force there.

“I can’t believe we’re all here!” Michelle Faraj said, running to give Tsuji a hug. She started at Michael’s when she was 15 or 16--depending on whom you ask--when her mother who ran the dry cleaner’s next door sent her over to keep her out of trouble.

“I want to see the computer,” announced Nancy Silverton, who proceeded to lead a tour of the cash register booth, still tucked into a corner of the Michael’s kitchen. Silverton, now among the country’s best-known bakers and pastry chefs, came to Michael’s looking for a kitchen job and was offered a cashier’s position instead.

“My best friend was waiting for me in the car when I applied,” Silverton said, picking at the corner of a leftover brownie. “When I came out she told me that I absolutely could not take the job--they’d never let me in the kitchen if I started by ringing up checks. My best friend was wrong.”

As the day ended and the invited guests filtered out to the valet parkers, the chefs gathered together for one last meal out in the patio. A long table was set up, the big white plates came out, more wine was poured. It was time for the chefs to toast each other, their missing colleagues, and yes, McCarty himself.

“He’s had troubles; I’ve had troubles--we’ve all had troubles,” Waxman said. “I think it’s great that he’s continued on. Very few restaurants last more than five years. I should know.”

“You know,” said Campanile’s Peel, pausing to take a sip of Edna Valley Chardonnay, “I think that by the time you reach 30 or 40, it’s time to stop blaming your father. If there’s anything bad in your life, it’s long past being Michael’s fault.”

GRILLED SQUAB SALAD

Wolfgang Puck was making a name for himself by serving warm duck salad over at Ma Maison. At Michael’s there was warm squab salad. We tried it again recently and found ourselves feeling nostalgic. The reduced stock, the raspberry vinaigrette, the bits of walnuts--a blast from the past.

MARINADE

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 medium cloves garlic, smashed

1/2 medium sweet red onion, sliced

1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped

1 bunch parsley, leaves only, coarsely chopped

1 bunch fresh basil, coarsely chopped

Cracked white pepper

Combine olive oil, garlic, onion, carrot, parsley, basil and white pepper to taste in bowl. Set aside.

SALAD

3 squabs, partially boned (leg and wing bones left in) and halved

2 cups raspberry vinegar

3 medium shallots, finely chopped

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Salt

Freshly ground white pepper

30 spinach leaves, rinsed and stemmed

3 cups curly endive, torn into bite-sized pieces

1/4 cup broken walnut pieces

30 raspberries

Night before or up to 2 days before serving, arrange squabs in dish or bowl and cover with Basic Marinade. Cover dish with plastic wrap. Marinate in refrigerator.

Put vinegar and shallots in medium saucepan over medium heat and boil until vinegar almost evaporates but shallots are still moist. Add stock and reduce by about 3/4, about 15 minutes. Add cream. Bring to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove sauce from heat and keep warm.

While sauce reduces, heat grill or broiler until very hot.

Place 5 spinach leaves in star shape on each of 6 plates, with points of leaves touching inner rim of plate. Put 1/2 cup of curly endive in center of each star and sprinkle walnuts on top.

Wipe marinade off squabs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook squabs with skin sides facing heat about 2 1/2 minutes. Halfway through cooking, rotate squabs 90 degrees to mark with crosshatched grill marks. Then turn squabs over and cook 2 1/2 minutes more, until medium-rare.

Carve each squab breast into 5 or 6 thin slices. Drape slices over curly endive. Place wing on 1 side of endive and leg on other side. Place 5 raspberries on each plate, between points of spinach leaves. Spoon sauce over breast slices and endive.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving contains about:

677 calories; 432 mg sodium; 180 mg cholesterol; 55 grams fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 31 grams protein; 3.02 grams fiber.

CHARDONNAY CREAM SAUCE

1/4 medium sweet red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 medium white mushrooms, thinly sliced

3/4 cup Chardonnay wine

2 ounces bones of white-fleshed fish (such as John Dory or red snapper), scallop trimmings or shrimp or lobster shells, optional

2 to 3 sprigs fresh parsley

1 small sprig fresh thyme

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Salt

Freshly ground white pepper

Fresh lemon juice

Put onion, carrot and mushrooms in small, heavy non-aluminum saucepan. Cover pan and cook over low heat until onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.

Add wine, fish bones, parsley and thyme. Raise heat to medium-high and bring liquid to gentle boil. Remove pan from heat. Set aside about 15 minutes.

Strain and discard solids from liquid and return liquid to pan. Add shallot and bring liquid to boil over high heat. Continue boiling until just about 2 tablespoons liquid remain, 5 to 7 minutes. Add cream and reduce heat slightly. Simmer until sauce is thick and reduced by about 1/3, 7 to 10 more minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and little lemon juice.

Process sauce until smooth in food processor or with hand-held blender, 1 to 2 minutes. Strain sauce through fine-mesh sieve. Return to pan and gently warm through. Adjust seasonings to taste.

To keep sauce warm until ready to use, set saucepan inside bowl or larger pan of hot but not boiling water.

Makes about 2 cups.

Each tablespoon contains about:

58 calories; 16 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 1 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.02 grams fiber.

PASTA IN CHARDONNAY CREAM SAUCE WITH SHRIMP OR SCALLOPS

There really was a time when angel hair pasta wasn’t a cliche. You used to find gummy versions of this dish in small airport hotels in Ohio. Michael’s still does it right.

1/4 pound butter

8 quarts water

Salt

18 jumbo prawns or shrimp, shelled, shells reserved, or 18 large sea scallops, trimmed

Freshly ground white pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 pound angel hair pasta

2 cups Chardonnay Cream Sauce

2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil

1/4 cup salmon roe caviar or American golden (whitefish) caviar, optional

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Clarify butter by melting butter in saucepan over medium to low heat. When all butter is melted, use spoon to skim off froth from top. Then carefully and gently pour off clear butter into bowl, stopping before any of milky white solids on bottom leave pan. Discard solids.

Place water and dash salt in large pot and bring water to boil.

Meanwhile, brush shellfish with clarified butter and season lightly to taste with salt and pepper.

Add olive oil and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente.

While pasta cooks, grill shellfish on grill or in hot skillet over high heat about 1 1/2 minutes per side.

Remove pasta from water when cooked and drain. Toss pasta with warm Chardonnay Cream Sauce and basil. Mound pasta on serving plates. Place 3 shrimp or scallops on top of each serving. Garnish with caviar and chives.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

638 calories; 318 mg sodium; 180 mg cholesterol; 46 grams fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams protein; o.29 grams fiber.

CREME BRULEE TART

Even in the early days, creme brulee was ubiquitous. Michael’s original pastry chef Jimmy Brinkley came up with this terrific variation. The Pate Sucree recipe makes much more pastry than you’ll need for a single tart--it’s designed to make four (10-inch) tart crusts. But the pastry freezes well; you may also divide the recipe in half.

PATE SUCREE

5 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes

3 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Put flour and sugar into bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer on low, add butter and mix until ingredients resemble cornmeal, about 10 minutes. (Food processor may also be used.)

In separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cream until smooth. Increase mixer speed to medium and add yolk-cream mixture. As soon as dough comes together (should just take few seconds), stop mixer. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Gather each piece of dough into ball, wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes before using.

FILLING

3 cups heavy whipping cream

7 large egg yolks

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

FILLING and TART

Bring cream to boil in heavy saucepan over medium heat. At same time, bring water to boil in bottom of double boiler, then reduce heat to simmer. Combine egg yolks and granulated sugar in top of double boiler set over simmering water. Whisk together until mixture is very thick.

Whisking continuously, pour hot cream into yolks. Reduce heat to low and let mixture cook 30 minutes, whisking about every 3 minutes.

Place cake ring 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches high on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll out pastry to circle about 10 inches in diameter. Roll pastry around rolling pin and unroll onto cake ring. Press pastry into bottom and up sides of ring, raising and pinching edges just barely over rim. Place large flat coffee filter inside and fill with pie weights or beans. Bake pastry at 350 degrees on bottom oven rack until edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove pie weights and filter. Slide circle of heavy cardboard under pastry and remove ring.

Fill pastry shell with thick cream mixture. Using sifter, sift even layer of brown sugar on top. Crimp strip of foil over edge of pastry to prevent burning. Place dessert in heated broiler and broil until sugar is melted, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning.

Refrigerate tart until filling sets, about 2 hours.

Makes 1 (8- or 10-inch) tart, about 8 servings. Each serving contains about:

678 calories; 51 mg sodium; 420 mg cholesterol; 51grams fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0.06 grams fiber.