If you love fine food and lament the lack of it in this town, I have one piece of advice: Put down this newspaper, pick up the phone and make a reservation at Michy's, Michelle Bernstein's new Upper Eastside bistro.

You'll need it. Open less than two months, the tiny 60-seater is already packing them in at lunch and dinner.

I have to admit I've not always been a fan of Bernstein's cooking. Though I appreciated her masterful technique, her choice of exquisite products and her sense of presentation, I sometimes found her food at Azul too spare and precious. I prefer lustier flavors and bolder statements on the plate.

That's just what she's delivering at Michy's with such luscious combinations as duck breast with Oaxacan mole sauce and calbaza agnolotti, caramel-skinned wild salmon fillet sauced with hearty artichoke stems and Italian truffles, and peppery linguine topped with baby Florida shrimp and braised scallions.

The menu is my idea of heaven. Instead of appetizers and main courses, all of the two dozen or so dishes are offered in half or full portions. Even full portions are petite, so each diner can try three or four dishes.

The whole scene is a departure for this star chef. The dining room, wallpapered in a midnight blue and Orange Crush floral and flanked by a bright orange banquette, looks like the interior of a circa 1970s Barbie condominium. At night, trippy capiz-shell chandeliers cast a pleasant glow over the white-sheathed tables. My one complaint is that the acoustics could use some help; on a bustling Saturday night, it's tough to hear your dining companions.

The front-of-the-house staff, headed by Bernstein's husband, David Martinez, is so confident and professional you wonder where they were hiding before landing here.

In four visits, I've sampled most of the current menu. The most enticing dishes include the ham and cheese croquetas, little thumbs of gently breaded blue cheese and minuscule cubes of Spanish ham in a velvety bechamel sauce that are quickly deep-fried and served piping hot in a slick of sweet, topaz-colored fig jam.

A subtly truffled polenta is as rich as pudding and crowned with a perfectly runny-yolked poached egg and specks of bacon that add chewiness, smokiness and saltiness in perfect proportion. A silky miso- and mustard-glazed codfish really is better than Nobu's famous version, especially with the crisp and salty fried baby bok choy.

A grilled churrasco-style steak frite with thick, hand-cut fries, a sidecar of béarnaise and an au poivre sauce is impeccable, with just enough bite and flavor. Then again, meltingly rich braised short ribs are so tender and earthy they're hard to share, especially with the comforting mound of buttery potato purée.

Perfectly unctuous confit of duck leg with a tender slaw of wilted cabbage is as satisfying as a winter nap, while a classic Peruvian-style ceviche of white bass, shrimp and scallops is like the sun coming out on a rainy day, with just the right balance of heat and citrus.

The Caesar salad is a delicious departure from the boring norm, with a rich, peppery dressing, a blanket of snowy Parmigiano-Reggiano, oven-dried baby tomatoes and freshly fried, peanut-sized croutons.

A beet salad with pretty gold and red slices is dotted with glazed roasted walnuts, mild blue cheese and speckles of thyme. In addition to the many salads, vegetarians will devour the nutty, grainy white gazpacho with grapes and cucumbers.

I have yet to taste a dish I disliked, but if pressed I would say the pastas are not the strongest. The tissue-thin sheets of handkerchief pasta with wild mushrooms are tender and evenly rolled, but they stick together, making the dish too dense. And the gnocchi was more gummy than puffy, though still flavorful in its tomato coulis with melted mozzarella and chicken sausage. But that is nit-picking.

Desserts include textbook tarte Tatin, kitschy baked Alaska, a banana tart with chewy dark chocolate in a walnut tart shell and my favorite, a decadently moist and sweet dark chocolate tower of cake with a caramelly fudge glaze alongside almond gelato.

The wine list numbers just under a hundred bottles with especially decent values in Spanish whites like an ultrafresh and citrusy Verdejo by Naia ($27) and a classic Albariño by Nora ($38). Twenty selections can be had by the glass.

If your taste runs to moody lighting, neon-colored cocktails and fashion-model hostesses, Michy's may not be for you, but if you dine out for the food, not the flash, it's the most exciting place in South Florida to be right now.