Palatable
Possibilities
Detroit is coming up in
the world of kosher dining
KAREN A. KATZ
Special to The Jewish News
ost cooks will tell
you that one of the things they most
enjoy making for dinner is "reserva-
tions." While many people take for
granted being able to eat out once or
twice a week, observant Jews in the
Detroit area have not really had the
luxury of ordering, from a menu, a
meal "homecooked" by someone else.
In years past, kosher restaurants
have come and gone — Lieberman's
on Linwood and Clairmount, Balotin
and Levine on 12th and Gladstone,
Kosin's on Wyoming. A few short-lived
"restaurants" opened one evening a
week at synagogues, and sporadical-
ly at the Jewish Community Center.
Perhaps the longest-lived kosher
restaurant of yesteryear was
Sperber's at the old Meyers and Cur-
tis branch of the JCC which was open
for 11 years before the Center moved
to West Bloomfield.
Within the past few years all that
has changed. Detroit may never boast
of, nor be able to support, as many
kosher restaurants as Chicago or
Toronto, but there are currently seven
places where Detroit area Jews can sit
down to lunch or dinner with the cer-
tainty of consuming kosher calories.
Here, in alphabetical order, is a
listing of those restaurants, a guide,
if you will, to kosher dining in
Detroit.
CAFE KATON: 23055 Coolidge
near Nine Mile Road (in the Oak Park
Shopping Plaza), Oak Park. Phone —
547-3581. Hours: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Monday-Thursday, 12 - 9 p.m. Sunday.
_A dairy restaurant owned by Leo
Mertz and supervised by the Council
of Orthodox Rabbis, Cafe Katon evolv-
ed as the demand grew for something
more creative than the carry-out piz-
zas Mertz added about ten years ago
to the pastries offered at Mertz
Bakery. The pizza is still on the menu,
and can also be purchased for $1 a
slice. There is seating for 28 at tables,
with additional counter seating for
Sara's patrons, from left, Harry Wilson, Shawn O'Reilly and Jay Hults chat after their meal.
24
Friday, June 12, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
six and plenty of booster seats
available. There is a special kids'
(under 11) menu featuring standbys
like peanut butter and jelly and grill-
ed cheese. For $2.50, a kid can fill up
on spaghetti or lasagna, with soup
and a salad.
If you're over 11, menu selections
range from nachos ($1.50) to an adult
portion of lasagna for $4.95, and in-
clude such items as homemade tuna
pot pie, quiche, potatoes stuffed with
cheese (and tuna or veggies), felafel
and grilled Pritikin — a melange of
vegetables, plus cheese, stuffed in pita
bread and oven melted. Soups and
herb teas are also available, along
with pastries from the bakery
counter.
Mertz, a baker in this area since
1959, says he attracts a vegetarian
clientele in addition to Jewish
customers. "We make whole wheat
dough when requested by special
order. We also have pizza parties here
for the kids. And once a year the pre-
school children from the yeshivah
come and we show them how we make
pizza and treat them to lunch. They
send us thank you notes and pictures
and I really get a kick out of it."
A separate table is provided for
ritual washing of the hands and ben-
chers are available for the after-meal
blessings.
DAWN DONUTS: 15526 W. 12
Mile at Greenfield, Southfield. Phone
— 552-9127. Open 24 hours every day.
In addition to baking kosher
donuts, muffins and other treats
under the supervision of Rabbi Jack
Goldman, owner Margaret Glynn and
her three daughters, K.P. and Karen
Glynn and Kim Aiken, run a dairy
restaurant with seating for 34 at 12
counter stools and seven booths. Kids'
birthday parties featuring pizza
bagels, specially-baked cupcakes and,i
balloons are commonplace, and scout