BEST OF EVERYTHING!'

dining room, carry-out and trays

• breakfast • lunch • dinner
• after-theater • kiddie menu

open tuesdays thru sundays
10 am. to 10 p.m.

968-0022

lincoln shopping center, 101/2 mile & greenfield, oak park

Deli Unique

25290 GREENFIELD North of 10 Mile Rd.

967-3999

CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS

THE GOLD COIN

V.4

OPEN 7 DAYS — YOUR HOST: HOWARD LEW
SZECHUAN, MANDARIN, CANTONESE

LCJ

COMPLETE
CARRY-OUT
AVAILABLE

NEW A LA CARTE DINNERS UNDER S5

24480 W. 10 MILE (IN TEL-EX PLAZA)

353-7848

West of Telegraph

GOLDEN BOWL

Restaurant

22106 COOLIDGE AT 9 MILE In A & P Shopping Center
398-5502 or 398-5503
DINE IN & CARRY-OUT

SZECHUAN, MANDARIN, CANTONESE & AMERICAN CUISINE

OPEN 1 DAYS-Mon.-Thurs. 11-10, Fri. & Sat. 11-11, Sun. & Holidays 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Your Chef: FRANK ENG

• Banquet Facilities

001clen Photo lx

Chinese-American Restaurant
Cantonese, Szechuan & American
Dining & Carry-Out
OPEN 7 DAYS ... Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 9:30, Fri. & Sat. 11:30-11, Sun. 12 9:30
642-8386
4067 W. Maple Rd. Just East of Telegraph

-

-

TNE GPEAT WALE

SERVING YOUR FAVORITE EXOTIC
DRINKS & CHOICE COCKTAILS

PRIVATE DINING ROOM
• BANQUETS • PARTIES • BUSINESS MEETINGS

Your host . . . HENRY LUM

Businessmen's Luncheons • Carry-outs • Catering

476-9181
(Drakeshire Shopping Center) • 35135 Grand River

HOA KOW INN

Specializing In Cantonese, Szechuan & Mandarin Foods

Open Daily 11 to 10:30, Sat. 11 to 12 Mid., Sun. 12 to 10:30
— Carry-Out Service —

13715 W. 9 MILE, W. of Coolidge • Oak Park • 547-4663

iM11!1.,

KABOB GRILL

Authentic Lebanese Cuisine

I CARRY-OUT & CATERING AVAILABLE

29702 SOUTHFIELD AT 12 1/2 MILE (In Southfield Plaza)

557-5990

MON.-THURS. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. FRI. & SAT. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
CLOSED SUNDAYS

DINING OUT IS BETTER AT A
JEWISH NEWS
RECOGNIZED RESTAURANT

84

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1990

Fooling Customers Won't Win
Points In The Restaurant Game

DANNY RASKIN

Local Columnist

T

ruth in menu is very
important for con-
sumers but, sorrily,
not highly enforced by the
government . . . However,
restaurant customers have
become more and more aware
of menu falsehoods . . . and
are shying away from places
with them . . . the feeling be-
ing that if they'll lie on their
menu, it's highly probable
that they're not doing so right
in the kitchen.
Restaurateurs, especially
those who have never been in
the dining game before,
should take cognizance and
beware of menu falsehoods
. . . it can ruin their business
. . . This is also, of course, very
true for experienced
restaurateurs who should
know better.
If restaurants want to stay
in business today, of prime
importance is to remember
that saying about being able
to fool some of the people
some of the time . . . Use of
plain common sense in
preparing menus is an
especially good rule . . . In
other words, say it as it is.
Potential "truth-in-menu"
trouble spots could be:
Quality . . . When official
government grade standards
such as "prime roast beef" or
"chopped choice sirloin" are
used in menus, only food pro-
ducts meeting these federal
standards should be served
. . . But there are some excep-
tions . . . The term "prime
rib" is an established and
understood description for a
particular cut of beef rather
than a grade quality, unless
"USDA" is used.
Quantity . . . It is accep-
table for menus to indicate
the weight of a food product
before cooking, rather than
the served weight, but other
types of quantity descriptions
may be misleading. For exam-
ple, a bowl of soup should hold
more than a cup of soup, and
a double drink should be
twice the size of a regular
drink.
Product identification .. .
Although restaurants are
often forced to substitute
menu ingredients because of
delivery problems or sudden
cost increases, any substitu-
tion made without notifica-
tion to the consumer is
misrepresentative and decep-
tive . . . Specifically, patrons
should be able to expect that
maple syrup not merely be

"maple-fiavored," cream not
be half-and-half and ground
sirloin of beef will not be
regular ground beef or ground
beef with a protein extender.
Price . . . Service or cover
charges should be clearly
disclosed on the menu, and if
any extra charge for special
requests is not brought to the
attention of the consumer at
the time of the request, the
consumer should not expect
to pay extra for the order.
Merchandising terms .. .
"Finest quality of beef"
should refer only to USDA
prime cuts, fresh ground cof-
fee should not be commercial-
ly ground, and "our own
special sauce" should not
be a commercially-prepared
sauce . . . Also, common menu
descriptions like homemade
and kosher should be replac-
ed with more accurate terms
. . . "Homemade" not so
should be replaced with some-
thing like "homestyle" . . . As
for kosher, there really is no
other connotation . . . it's
either kosher or it isn't
kosher . . . Places other than
Michigan use "kosher-style"
. . . a term which is actually
against the law to use in this
state.
Method of preservation .. .
Frozen or canned vegetables
and juices should never be
described as fresh because
"fresh" means that it is not
preserved in any fashion .. .
When a patron orders a fresh
fruit salad, the expectation is
for all fresh fruits and not a
combination of fresh, frozen,
canned or chilled.

Food preparation . . . It is a
clear misrepresentation to
describe a menu item as broil-
ed when it is in fact fried or
sauteed . . . Also, since many
people are allergic to, or at-
tempting to avoid, particular
methods of food preparation,
restaurant operators should
not only be accurate in the
menu description, but food
prepared in a special way
(such a charcoal-broiled,
barbequed, smoked or deep-
fried) should also be included
in the description.
Dietary or nutritional
claims . . . Menu misrepresen-
tations concerning a food's
sugar or salt content are not
only deceptive, but can pose a
health hazard to those people
who are under special dietary
restrictions . . . Descriptions
such as low calorie and other
nutritional claims should not
be made unless they can be
supported.
Verbal and visual presenta-

tion . . . a consumer looking
at a picture on the menu, wall
poster, or any other form of
advertising expects to be serv-
ed that meal . . . And imita-
tion sour cream should not be
served when consumers are
asked if they want sour cream
for their baked potato, nor
should domestic blue cheese
be used when the consumer
orders a Roquefort cheese
salad dressing.
Brand names . . . Trade-
marks for food items should
not be used generically, and
any brand or trademark pro-
duct that is advertised should
be the one served.
. . .
Point of origin
Restaurant customers may
choose a food because it comes
from a particular geographic
area (Wisconsin cheese. Idaho
potatoes, Maine lobsters,
Florida orange juice, Roma-

Plain common
sense in preparing
menus is
important.

nian pastrami, Maryland
crabmeat, Dover sole, etc.) .. .
Since this origination point
depicts unique characteristics
that the consumer expects
when ordering the food, these
descriptons should always be
accurate.
LAST YEAR, Mary and
Ron Lamparter had Michigan
Cancer Foundation's first out-
of-state fundraiser in Florida
. . . and many decided to do it
again this year.
Was called "Spring Break
'90" . . . three days of much
sunshine, friendship and
MCF benefitting.
Sorry we couldn't go to the
Friday evening cocktail party
at the Boca Raton home of
Frank and Stephanie Ger-
mack . . . or the Sunday buf-
fet hosted by Weldon and
Page Yaeger at their Ocean
Ridge home . . . But while
down there, we did get to the
Saturday cocktail reception
at the Boca Raton Resort and
Club.
Was a very impressive set-
ting as a Florida moon
glistened on the waters out-
side the hotel's Cloister
Gardens where the reception
was held for about 70 localites
enjoying the southern clime
. . . and helping MCF
wherever they go.
Mary Lamparter, so very
gracious, making a beautiful
partner for hubby Ron .. .
They were among the
hostesses and hosts at the

