LOOKING FOR A
SPECIAL PLACE

BEST OF EVERYTHING

TO HAVE YOUR NEXT PARTY?

(Formerly Mr. Laffs)

Of Farmington Hills

Specializing In
• Bat Mitzvahs • Weddings
• Company Parties • Sweet 16s
• All Occasions

• Bar Mitzvahs

Call

Kim,

Banquet Manager .

531-7371

Featuring Chef John Szegedi

Restaurant

AT APPLEGATE SQUARE
Southfield
Northwestern Hwy. at Inkster Rd.
Dining and Cocktails
For Dinner Reservations: 353-2757

EARLY DINNER SPECIALS

Served 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Mon. Thru Sat.
• BROILED FRESH BOSTON SCROD Almondine
• SAUTEED CHICKEN BREAST With
Fettucine and Pesto Cream Sauce
• FROG LEGS Roadhouse Style
• FLEUR DE LYS SALAD

695

(Shrimp, Crabmeat, Artichoke Hearts,
Mushrooms, Hearts of Palm, Louie Sauce)

Salad Includes Soup and Beverage
All Entrees Except Salad Include:
Soup, Salad, Potato, Fresh Vegetables, Bread Basket
. . . AND COFFEE, TEA OR MILK

FRESH HOME COOKING

Casa

Mexican Food For REAL!
*FAMILY SPECIAL

ALWAYS AVAILABLE 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

Enough
food for
at least
Six
People!

$

2 I 95

(a $59 value)

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

6 Beef Tacos
6 Cheese Enchiladas
Beef Burritos
6 Beef Tamales with Chili
Large Plate of Guacamole
Large Plate of Spanish Rice
Large Plate of Refried Beans

*Ask your server about our Margarita
and Sangria Pitcher Specials during
Family Special!
Half Pitchers
Available

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN CUISINE SINCE 1965
7 .Days ... 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Serving Lunch, Dinner & After Theater

Featuring Mexican Dining At It's Best!

29200 ORCHARD LAKE RD.

Farmington Hills
Between 12 & 13 Mile

626-2982

52

Friday, August 22, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

DANNY RASKIN

IT'S NOT AN AP-
PETIZER ... too large ...
nor an entree ... too small
... perhaps a great descrip-
tion would be a mini-entree.
This new style of American
dining that comes from Spain
... is called tapas ... And
Jovan on Telegraph between
12 and 13 Mile, next to Jac-
ques, becomes one of a small
number of places to have
tapas in this country ...
The reason is simple .
very few have an executive
chef like Remy Berdy . ... in a
class all his own ... who re-
cently came to Jacques and
Jovan from the Great South-
ern Hotel in Columbus, Ohio.
In Chicago, people wait in
line for hours at Cafe Ba-
Ba-Beeba! ... They're in New
York at the Ballroom, a fine
tapas tavern, and Cafe San
Martin, one of the country's
first to serve it.
In Washington, the meal-
in-miniature varieties are at
the Spanish restaurant El
Bodegon ... in North Miami
at Island Club on Williams
Island ... and the Tapas Res-
taurant in North Cambridge,
Mass. ... There are probably
some others, but these are
the only ones I know about.
However, with Chef Remy
Berdy and the executive sous
chef who joined him two
weeks ago from the Great
Southern, Tony Pohlman,
Jovan becomes one of the
country's few restaurants
that serves only tapas.
As a child, Remy went on
vacationing trips to Europe
and experienced tapas ... For
years he always wanted the
right place to prepare and
serve these little dishes ...
and has finally found it at
Jovan.
The culinary artistry of
Remy and Tony make a dif-
ference ... and many people
joined in the raves that
comes with introduction of
tapas for the first time here.
Jovan is a 92-seater with
all booths ... and a long bar
... Probably one of the best
waitresses around ... pretty
Pamela Saragilos ... always
smiling ... so very persona-
ble and efficient ... served
our table recently ... which
included Dane Gussin and
Lynn and Bob Talbert, De-
troit New columnist consid-
ered by so many as a news-
paperman's newspaperman
because of his true dedication
to the profession he loves so
much.
Lovely Pamela with the
toothpaste ad smile ... and
courteous capabilities,
brought out tapas upon tapas
for our booth ... Bob joins
many in saying that "Remy
is my favorite chef" as tapas
upon tapas came in their ex-
cellent presentation ... and
wonderful taste ... escargot
ragout, gallentine of quail,
monkfish "lobster style,"
chicken livers in sherry
sauce, chicken salad in
scooped and designed fresh
tomato, symphony of seafood,

marinated mussels, chicken
brochettes ... At another
table were Spanish potato
omlet, shrimp in garlic sauce
anotgher had Spanish
ratatouille, beef tenderloin
tips, pasta with peppers, cold
grilled swordfish, cold seafood
sausage ... We saw the very
well presented asparagus
vinaigrette, mozzerellam to-
mato, basil salad, hommos
with pita.
I love good gazpacho .
and didn't know that the cold
tomato soup was included on
the Jovan tapas menu.
Tapas has taken off so big
that it is the only thing now
served evenings at Jovan
from 5 p.m. ... Regular fare
lunches are as usual in this
very modernistic-looking
place which has taken on still
another dining dimension.
Skeptical people have be-
come pleasantly surprised by
tapas ... which presents a to-
tally different concept in din-
ing ... a large reason why
they are the only things
which may be ordered in
evenings at Jovan.
Because of this, Jovan car-
ries a distinction ... as one of
America's few dining spots
that does not deviate ... and
have tapas along with other
dishes ... Even if someone
wanted it next door at Jo-
van's sister restaurant, Jac-
ques, it is not available ...
that is, in clarification, as
with the complete tapas
menu ... A party at Jacques
can have Remy make them a
tapas plate.
Modernistic Jovan, with its
quiet and informal elegance,
tablecloths and cloth napkins,
pink and gray tones, dancing
and soft background live din-
ing music ... has come into
its tapas own ... with perfect
timing ... America is eating
lighter . . . and it takes chefs
like Remy and Tony to pre-
pare them properly.
Any restaurant can call
mini entrees tapas, but to
serve them with authenticity
. . . ah! . . . that's another
thing.
Penelope Casas has a book
out called Tapas, The Little
Dishes of Spain (Knopf) ...
in which she gives recipes ga-
lore.
She tells about tapas being
a centuries-old tradition in
Spain and part of the fiber of
Spanish life, but only re-
cently attracting attention in
this country ... "Designed to
please the palate, delight the
eye, to be enjoyed 'grazing'
from one dish to another as
one whiles away the hour be-
fore a late meal or simply de-
vours a lovely variety of
flavors in place of a tradi-
tional dinner."
explaines
"Tapas,"
Penelope, "the delicious little
dishes of Spain, consumed
with great gusto at bars and,
taverns before lunch and
again before dinner, have
been a tradition in Spain for
as long as anyone can re-
member. While Spaniards

have been enjoying hundreds
of varieties of exquisite tapas,
here in America we have, for
the most part, been enduring
endless cocktail hours of salty
pretzels, peanuts, potato
chips and soggy canapes.
"A glance at almost any
cookbook will give you an
idea of the sorry state of
`pre-dinner' foods before tapas
arrived on the scene. Chances
are you will find little more
than the tiresome aforemen-
tioned canapes, a few cheese
balls, and several cracker
spreads — all bready, much -
too filling, and of minimal
nutritional value. Americans
are obviously just as fond of
`little bites' as Spaniards, and
tapas take appetizers into a
whole new world, placing
them squarely at center stage
and creating an entirely new
style of eating and entertain-
ing.
"The tapas spirit is spread-
ing throughout America,
from New York north to
Connecticut, Boston, and To-
ronto, south to Houston and
west to California, as more
and more people discover the
wonderful variety of foods
that can be served as tapas
and realize as well the bene-
fits of the tapas eating style.
Let's face it, traditional
cocktail parties are generally
dull affairs, attended more
often than not as social obli-
gations. I always feel vaguely
cheated at the end of a
cocktail party; the time was
too short and personal in-
teraction too superficial to be
stimulating or meaningful,
and I am neither hungry
enough to move on to do
dinner nor convinced that my
food needs have been satis-
fied. I never quite know what
to do with the evening that
still lies ahead.

"On the other hand, sit-
down dinner parties, which
have clearly defined begin-
nings and endings, can be
stodgy events, where your
conversations are limited, for
better or for worse, to dinner
companions on your left and
on your right. Now, thanks to
tapas the yawning gap be-
tween cocktail and dinner
parties has been bridged,
creating a relaxed, free-
flowing atmosphere in which
the desire for a tidbit to ac-
company a drink merges suc-
cessfully with the need for a
well-balanced meal.

"It is difficult to say
exactly what tapas are, for
tapas are not necessarily a
particular kind of food;
rather, they represent a style(
of eating and a way of life
that are so very Spanish and
yet so adaptable to America.
Tapas are as varied as the
cooks who create them and in
Spain range from the
simplest fare to surprisingly
sophisticated dishes. They
can be foods we traditionally
eat as appetizers, but more
often than not cross the line
into what we might think of