BEST OF EVERYTHING
A SWEET
DEAL
WITHOUT
A SUITE
PRICE.
YOUR RATE
INCLUDES: BREAKFAST FOR 2,
EVENING COCKTAILS, LATE NIGHT SNACKS
A weekend stay at the Compri Hotel includes all the "extras"
of trendy suite hotels—without the extra-high rates. For just
$59 per night you can enjoy:
■ Four-star, luxurious rooms, each with spacious sitting area,
remote control TV, desk and two phones.
■ Cooked-to-order breakfast, unlimited cocktails from 5-7pm,
and late-night snacks.
■ Private exercise facilities, indoor pool, and whirlpool.
■ Exclusive Compri Club with comfortable lounging areas,
intimate bar, stocked library, and big screen TV
Weekends at Compri—how sweet it is!
For reservations, call 1-800-4—COMPRI
;fxo ®
kCompri) Hotel
Southfield/Detroit
26000 American Drive, Southfield, MI 48034
Directly Across from the American Center
(313) 357-1100
Based on double occupancy, with a maximum of 4 persons per room. Children under
18 stay free in parents room and eat free. Limited availability Friday, Saturday and
Sunday nights through September 6, 1988. Not available for groups. Tax is not included.
58
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1988
•
Local Chefs And Local Food
Continue Their Improvement
DANNY RASKIN
Local Columnist
T
he Mystery Muncher
writes . . . if author
Alexander Pope were
alive today, he'd probably
deplore the mounting
number of chain formula and
independent restaurants
fighting to keep costs down
and profits up by popping pre-
cooked, frozen entrees into a
microwave. They don't even
need a journeyman cook.
"Pope wrote, 'The vulgar
boil an egg. The learned roast
it.' He'd be pleased about the
growing number of eateries
which prepare everything
from fresh, unfrozen ingre-
dients • and employ gourmet
chefs. Michigan has two of the
country's sparse number of
certified master chefs and a
female certified executive
chef. Hundreds of other chefs
and cooks have attended
French or U.S. culinary
schools or graduated from
Schoolcraft College's appren-
tice program, working their
way up from manual kitchen
labor under the guidance of
older, more skiled chefs.
"Milos Cihelka and Leopold
Schaeli are Michigan's cer-
tified master chefs. Carolyn
Haskins is a certified ex-
ecutive chef, next to the
masters in testing. To become
a master, you must pass 10
days of competition and
testing at . the Culinary In-
stitute of America in Hyde
Park, N.Y. after a year of
study of a dozen books. Most
chefs fail.
Golden
"Milos,
of
Mushroom fame, was in the
first master graduating class.
He claims that more and
more Michigan residents are
traveling abroad and enjoying
excellent food. They're more
discriminating when they
seek dining experiences back
home. Better restaurants are
opening, staffed by chefs and
cooks who want to ply their
trade, not just warm up con-
venience food.
"Schaeli is corporate ex-
ecutive chef of Machus Enter-
prises which includes Red Fox
and Sly Fox in Birmingham,
among others. Schaeli came
to Machus from general
managership of the Draw-
bridge restaurant in North-
ville and executive chef of
Jim's Garage in downtown
Detroit.
"Chef Jimmy Schmidt,
formerly of Detroit's London
Chop House, is opening the
Rattlesnake Club downtown.
He was majoring in engineer-
ing at University of Illinois at
the age of 18 when he picked
up a cooking magazine and
read about Luberon cooking
school in France's Avignon.
He soon was running a
Boston restaurant and later
became manager-executive
chef at London Chop House.
"Haskins was executive
chef at the Great Dane and
Jacques in Bingham Farms,
leaving to become assistant
director of dining services at
Detroit's St. John's Hospital.
She's now doing her thing at
Norm's Oyster Bar in
Southfield. -
"Milos, who began at age 14
as apprentice in a Prague
pastry shop, says no school in
the world produces a cook.
You need on-the-job ex-
perience. Schaeli began ap-
prenticeship in Switzerland
at the age of 16. He worked in
many countries before coming
to America. He recommends
the Schoolcraft College food
program where students work
a shift daily at a restaurant.
It's so tough that half who
enter don't make it.
"There are many other
skilled chefs in the Detroit
area. Douglas Grech, better
known as Chef Duglass,
recently turned his
Southfield restaurant into
Brasserie Duglass with
Moulin Rouge murals adding
to the style of Toulouse
Lautrec.
"Duglass is a native
Detroiter who graduated from
the Culinary Instiutte of
America and attended Ecole
Hotelier de Paris. He was ex-
ecutive chef at the Pontchar-
train Hotel and the Great
Dane restaurant.
"Chef Keith Famie, former-
ly of Chez Raphaels, is open-
ing Les Auteurs in Royal Oak.
Reigning supreme at the
long-popular London Chop
House is Grant Brown. The
creative, contemporary
cuisine featured at the Money
Tree in Detroit is the artistry
of Chef Ed Janos. Chef-owner
Matt Prentice is the culinary
artist at Sebastian's in Troy.
Don Lowry is chef-owner of
Lowry's fine restaurant in
West Bloomfield. Pike Street
Restaurant in Pontiac has im-
proved under the magic of
Chef Brian Polcyn, formerly
of The Lark in Farmington
Hills. Chef Marcus Haight is
now at the very fine Lark. Ex-
ecutive Chef Remy Berdy,
formerly of the Sheraton
Oaks, Novi, and Michigan
Inn, is now back in Detroit
and the catering business.
"Attesting to the need for
good chefs, Samuel Johnson
said, "A man seldom thinks
with more earnestness than
he does of his dinner." And
Byron in 'Don Juan' said,
"Since Eve ate apples, much
depends on Dinner."
"According to a restaurant
survey, the criteria for
evaluating dining spots in-
cludes atmosphere, quality
and freshness of food,
cleanliness, courteous
waitpersons, comfortable
chairs, hot foods served hot
and cold food served cold.
"Joe Muer's was the run-
away favorite for its consis-
tent excellence in the quality
and preparation of food.
Favored dishes were pickerel
and stuffed flounder. The Lon-
don Chop House was second.
Veal Oscar, fish, filet mignon
and snails were top choices.
Ponchartrain Wine Cellar
was highly rated for lamb,
veal and escargots. Another
favorite was Ciungan's in
Ecorse which has since burn-
ed down. The old dining spot
was short on atmosphere but
long on seafood which was
plentiful and consistently
fresh and tasty. Gandy
Dancer in Ann Arbor made
the list, deservedly so. For
fresh lobster, king crab and
clam chowder, you can't beat
this restaurant on the
railroad tracks. Chuck Muer
restaurants were chosen by
many, and for beef, Carl's
Chop House was unques-
tionably the top choice.
"Among favorite Chinese
eateries were New Peking in
Garden City, Wing Hong of
Farmington Hills and House
of Hunan, Southfield. Prefer-
red French restaurants were
Money Tree, The Lark, Truf-
fles, Duglass and Jacques. For
Greek cuisine, it was
unanimous for Hellas in
Greektown. Lamb and
moussaka were listed as
favorite dishes. Pegasus
Taverna, Parthenon, Laikon,
Bouzouki and Grecian
Gardens received honorable
mention. Pasta any way you
like it was a top favorite at
Roma Cafe. Other Italian
spots mentioned were Lelli's,
Aldo's, Mario's and
Cardinali's.
"For pizza, Buddy's headed
the list. Others included
Shield's, Red Devil and
Mitch's. For romantic dinner,
Van Dyke Place, Pontchar-
train Wine Cellars, Ibp of the
Pontch, Cafe Cortina, Red
Fox, Sly Fox, The Lark, Ex-
calibur and Benchmark were
rated the swooniest.
"It's interesting to note that
.4