Tony Michael

Tony Michael, Founder & Editor, Los Alamos, California

Tony Michael grew up in Santa Barbara and has lived in Los Alamos for four years with his wife and two kids. Before The Ynez, he spent years selling to the kitchens that set the standard, from Wolfgang Puck and Michelin-starred chefs to hotel groups like Marriott and Hyatt, and he runs several marketing and advertising agencies. He has eaten and tasted his way through 41 states and more than 20 countries, from Croatia's coast to Spain and France, and he still thinks the Santa Ynez Valley is one of the best places in the world to spend a weekend. Every guide here is checked against each business's own published information, and anything he's seen with his own eyes is marked as an owner pick.

How Tony works on each guide

• He edits every page. Duke, his AI research co-pilot, researches his notes, checks each fact against a direct source and drafts the copy. Tony reads, changes or cuts the draft, and nothing goes live until he approves it. More on how The Ynez uses AI.
• Direct sources only. Names, addresses, hours, prices and dates come from each business's own site, an official calendar or a government record. If a fact can't be confirmed, it's left off. How we verify.
• Owner picks are marked. Anything Tony has seen with his own eyes is labeled as an owner pick.
• Dated and corrected. Every guide shows the date it was last checked. Spot an error? Report it on the Corrections page.

Guides by Tony Michael

138 guides and stories, all edited and published by Tony, grouped by what you're planning: where to eat, where to taste wine, what to do and where to stay, plus the longer stories.