In Manhattan, the insider media crowd calls Michael’s its dining room.  It’s where many television, book, film, magazine and Internet deals are hatched.  Doing lunch is great, but who has time and is it really necessary to do business over a $34 Cobb salad?

For many in the media elite, however, lunch at Michael’s is a must and the guy at the center of the media insider’s scene is Michael McCarty who splits his time between his New York and Santa Monica eateries.

David and I checked out the busy holiday lunch scene at Michael’s on Monday where we caught up with Michael who shared his vision for networking and entertaining — and some observations about the current media environment.  And, yes, we filmed some bold faced names in Charlie Rose, Paula Zahn, Tivo chief Tom Rogers and super book lawyer Bob Burnett.

Michaelbook
Michael has a new book out about his world.

— Andy Plesser

Update:  Here’s a rundown of today’s scene at Michael’s from Diane Clehane on Mediabistro.

Here’s the embed code for my interview.