I LISTENING POST Immi.°111=1. I BEST OF EVERYTHING I APRIL SPECIAL ROASTED GLACIER SPRINGS TROUT With An Oriental Mayonnaise and Vegetable Panache $8.95 Served With: Choice of Vegetable, Cup of Soup of the Day, Bread Basket, Chocolate Mousse Torte West Bloomfield Oak Park Bingham Farms Orchard Lake Rd., south of 15 Greenfield north of 10 Telegraph Between 12 & 13 737-3890 967-3999 645-5288 Special Valid Through 4/30/91 DINE FREE KIDS 12 AND UNDER WITH OUR MAGICIAN At 2 Children With Each Adult Entree Wed., Thurs. & Sun., 5.8 p.m. Live entertainment & L)ancing To NORMA JEAN BELL AND THE ALL-STARS FRI. & SAT. 9:45 p.m. SUN. 9 p.m. Reservations Taken for Mother's Day, May 12 22061 Woodward, Between 8 & 9 398-194 MAGNIFICO! "Ancliamo is another stunning contribution to Detroit's restaurant scene. The place works terrifically as a restaurant. It has warmth, verve and character!" — Mel Gourmet, Detroit Monthly COMPLETE NEW MENU NEW CHEF Aldo Ottaviani The legendary Aldo O ttavianl (from the origi- nal Aldo's Restaurant) ...a truly Italian restaurant where the food is prepared with heart and soul! Classic flavor. Wonderfully delicate. Superb presentation. Modestly priced. With 1-696, you are only 20 minutes away from Great Authentic Italian Dining! Come enjoy the relaxed atmos- phere where good food and good drink are the attraction! Private Parties Welcomed up to 40 7096 E. 14 Mile Road Between Mound and Van Dyke 268-3200 70 FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1991 ITALIA A Birmingham Restaurant Has Been 26-Year Family Affair DANNY RASKIN Local Columnist ongevity in the res- taurant business is an admirable experience . . . especially when it reaches 26 years and can boast of be- ing stronger than ever before. This is the Lemon Peel on N. Hunter (Woodward) in Bir- mingham. It wasn't always known as the Lemon Peel , . . not in 1965 when John and Fran Kales had a little Biffs operation with just 24 stools, tiny kitchen and small walk- in refrigerator now used as a beer and wine cooler. Nine years went by, and in 1974, with John and Fran pulling away from the Biff's chain, the Lemon Peel name was born. In 1975, John and his father:in-law, Leo Dimitrios, who had been with his daughter and son-in-law since 1967, even took over the Carl's Car Wash next door and ran it for a year. Then came the big change . . . and the start of a true family affair . . . In 1976, John started what was to be a renovation of renovations . . . No longer would there be a 24-stool operation . . . No more Carl's Car Wash . . . In their stead was to stand a Lemon Peel restaurant with seating of about 96 in a gracious but casual dining at- mosphere . . . where the car Wash used to be . . . plus an intimate cocktail lounge with 48 seats where the 24-stool Biff's hamburger dining setup once enjoyed popularity. John literally built the restaurant himself . . . Daughter Kathy, now 26, and a journalism graduate from Wayne State • University, can recall sisters Ellie and Laurie picking her up after school so the three could help Mom and Dad. "The car wash equipment back then wasn't like the new equipment that exists today," says Kathy. "It might be that I perceived things larger in those days because I was on- ly 10 years old, but it seemed tearing down huge machines was as if dad was clearing a forest. I also remember lear- ning to build walls and wallpapering them. If one were to ask me what has been the most valuable experience in my life, I would say, and I'm sure my sisters would agree, that it has been the family business experience. It's - remarkable how many talents and know-how we have acquired over 26 years at Lemon Peel!' Lemon Peel was three years in the building, including stucco walls and the cocktail lounge's brick-by-brick floor . . . A liquor license didn't come until a year after they opened in 1979. Ellie and Laurie were waitresses and Kathy helped in other ways before joining her sisters, mom and dad and grandpa Leo at the restau- rant. Many people will remember the former decor . . . framed posters of Broadway shows, an antique room sector with a wall covered by a World War stamp machine (3 cents first class), early 1900s high shoes, coal scoop, ice prongs, shoe shine box, washboard, logg- ing saw, etc. We remember sitting in the Theater Room as music from Broadway shows softly played in the background . . . The dining and bar lounge areas each had separate entrances . . . until 1987 . . . This is when a lobby sector was created with one entrance for access to either the lounge or dining regions. December of 1990 brought another change in decor .. . Gone are the show biz posters and antiques . . . In their stead are walls painted in varied colors, new pictures in the dining areas and a sports theme in the lounge. New menus have been designed by daughter Kathy in the shape of a lemon with lemon coloring. Both Kathy and Ellie are highly polished hostesses to- day . . . Laurie is an arts and crafts senior at Wayne State U., graduating to become a teacher this fall . . . She created the Lemon Peel's logo . . . Ellie had graduated Oakland Community College in cooking, with top grades for her culinary expertise . . . As winner of a gold medal, bronze, silver and the prestigious best of show at a cookery competition, she made Fran and John very proud parents. The new sports lounge has framed pictures of cars and of course a couple of paintings of lemons . . . In the wall is also a story . . . John had spon- sored a race car that was eventually wrecked . A customer gave John its front end and he had it mounted on the wall . . . The driver found out about his car that once was and came to the Lemon Peel . . . to autograph its front end. John, Fran and their daughters must feel strange these days when they walk in back . . . No more tiny kit- chen . . . Now two large ones with much room and four stoves for ample food preparation. Celebrating 26 years in the restaurant business is nice . . . Continuing to maintain a high standard of consumer pleasantry with family to- getherness is even nicer .. . Lemon Peel has come a long way in these 26 years . . . and it shows. EMPLOYERS take note . . . Don't forget April 21-27 . . . that's Professional Secretaries Week. IS "WILD and crazy" the way guys should go when try- ing to attract the opposite sex? . . . Ron Lowy, Southfield The Kales' children have literally grown up in the Lemon Peel. interior designer, expects to find out after his appearance April 17 on "Kelly and Com- pany" over at WXYZ-TV, Ch. 7 . . Ron put his best wit for- ward in a cleverly-worded, videotaped personal ad in which he humorously describ- ed "my kind of woman." Ron's was one of five ads by five different males, including real estate broker Randy Tar- now, that appeared this week in the special "Mail Order Men" singles segment of "Kelly" created by Lori Weiss, known as the "Queen of the Singles Scene" around Ch. 7 for her frequent "Kelly" forays into Detroit's singles world. Female viewers will have until May 1 to respond by mail to the male of their choice . . . "Kelly and Com- pany" will send each couple out on a date . . . then bring all five couples on the May 13 show to see how things went. Ron told viewers his kind of woman will have "the in- telligence of a General Schwartzkopf minus the poor foresight of a Saddam Hus- sein," among other qualifications. Lori said she told the men "to create something that not only sells themselves, but also attracts the kind of per- son they want to meet" .. .