LISTENING POST I BEST OF EVERYTHING I Sila Restaurant In Berkley Carries Tradition Of Experience LOBSTER FESTIVAL DANNY RASKIN Local Columnist 7 DAYS A WEEK 1'/2 LB. LIVE MAINE LOBSTER COMPLE DINNER INCLUDES: • SOUP OR PASTA • SALAD • POTATO OR VEGETABLE E $1 595 Live Piano Entertainment Mon. Thru Sat. Tableside Cooking at Dinners ... • Steak Diane • Caesar Salad • Seafood Fettucini • Fettucini • Veal • Dover Sole • Flaming Desserts Catering For All Occasions • Lunch Served Mon.-Fri. • Pastries Made On The Premises 935 W. 11 MILE, S.E. CORNER 11 & 1.75 Res: 399.5960 Chef: Peter Lieber Your Hosts: Bruno Ferguson & Tim Kowalec NI MN $10 OFF WORLD'S GREATEST BIRTHDAY PARTY! MONDAY THRU THURSDAY WITH THIS COUPON Limit 1 Coupon Per Visit - - - FOR Expires 4 FREE QUARr7-4-91 F aDacilgi GaLlrx,23 , 0 ,dt0. `"qPillaCtal corn w., ,.w0,27.- I v4i I I 31005 ORCHARD LAKE RD. 626-5020 MON.-THURS. 'TIL 9 p.m. • FRI. & SAT. 'TIL 10 p.m. • SUN. 12 Noon-8 p.m. mimiimilimmiimmommemommommilii IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD A BUDDY'S PIZZA... YOU HAVEN'T HAD I PIZZA YET! NOT GOOD WITH OTHER DISCOUNTS • Expires 7-4-91 • - - - - • 31646 NORTHWESTERN HWY. AT MIDDLEBELT Farmington Hills I I 855-4600 ANY LARGE PIZZA OR 1 LARGE ANTIPASTO OR LARGE GREEK SALAD WHEN YOU I PRESENT THIS COUPON UPON ORDERING. Wan I VOTED DINE IN OR CARRY OUT BY CNANDEL 2 DEMI NOVS ETNIT MESSJI RESERVE THE LOVING CUP Featuring MARLENE HILL FOR YOUR NEXT OCCASION FROM DUO TO SEXTET CALL DANNY JORDAN AT: (313) 2884441 70 FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1991 . xperience . . . how can you measure it, or put a price on this valuable commodity in the restaurant game? . . . Can't be done .. . It's probably the biggest asset a restaurant has going for it today . . . larger than the food by a wide margin . . . You can get mouth-watering dishes at a lot of places . . . but not experience. Many dining spots have this valued knowledge . . . and it's a main reason why most are still in business . . . Take a sometime forgotten place like Sila Italian Family Dining on 12 Mile, two blocks east of Greenfield in Berkley . . . Ex- perience is all over the place. Back in 1959, it was a little carry-out operation owned by Guido Cundari who moved across the street in 1968 with a whopping 30 seats . . . In the '70s, he took part of his parking area and put in addi- tional seating of 80 for both the restaurant and a banquet sector . . . Then in 1979, Guido took the 12 Mile Road frontage with its landscaping and some parking to add another 70. Eleven years ago, brothers Mike and Al Bsharah bought the free-standing Sila and added more experience to a neighborhood restaurant the likes of which so many cities would love to have . . . Being in the restaurant business together since 1965, they didn't step into a "Now what do we do?" situation . . . Their knowledge was keenly felt and appreciated by employees who recognize that the best kind of restaurant boss is one who knows what he or she is talking about in suggesting what they should do, whether it be in the kitchen, waiting on tables or even cleaning up . . . People silly enough to buy a restaurant today without previous experience take a very big gamble which so many times puts them on the short end of the stick looking at a stack of unpaid bills and a padlocked door. All is not gloom in the restaurant game when ex- perience is involved . . . In fact, it can be quite rewar- ding, especially when the ex- perience is coupled with good common sense . . . This Mike and Al have as they serve three generations of customers who know a good thing . . . The Bsharah brothers know too that stagnancy has no place in the restaurant business . . . You must continually make changes, especially with menu additions. The first thing they did after buying Sila (a village and mountain range off the southern part of Italy's mainland, pronounced See-la) was to make sure people could find them . . . A sign twice the size of the restaurant's previous one was put up .. . plus another on the front of the building . . . It does a lot of parties, and folks don't have trouble anymore in fin- ding this gem. The frontal area seats 100 with a lounge and 10-stool bar which originally was in the back used only as a ser- vice bar. Pauline Jordan is an exam- ple of the employee ex- The "new owners" have been there 11 years, and many staffers are 20-year veterans. perience at Sila . . . Her win- ning ways of much com- petence comes from being a waitress almost 50 years .. . at the Cafe Rouge in Hotel Statler, early '50s . . . Topinka's for Ken Nicholson on Telegraph four years in the late '50s . . . Vanelli's on Woodward 17 years . . . and a long-time Sila stalwart who knows what she's doing and does it. Rene Feldman has been at Sila 10 1/2 years, explaining things in Yiddish to many customers who never thought she was Jewish . . . Pleasant Pat Sherman has been at Sila 20 years on and off . . . Ruth Hoenle, manager, is a 21-year veteran there . . . Smiling, ef- ficient Donna Pitlock has seven years of service . . . Gracie Gingrich is the 11-year prep gal in Sila's kitchen. Mike and Al, besides con- tinually adding new things, are smart and experienced enough not to tamper with the 32-year-old recipes . . . but have doubled the amount of items since buying Sila .. . What they refuse to use, though, is any MSG (mono sodium glutamate) in the cooking of their food . . . This feature, small as it may be, has brought many customers back. If people discover a long wait on weekends, they don't wonder why . . . the reason is apparent . . . especially with home cooking and almost everything prepared from scratch. Regulars like Alan Bishop of Mr. Alan's Shoes, Sid Weinstein, Murray Feldman, Channel 2 business editor, etc., join people from all walks of life who come from everywhere to enjoy Sila .. . Like after the opening of Oak Park's Concert in the Park Series when some of the Oak Park Civic Chorus members who opened this year's event came to Sila . . . Marion Bates with hubby Mickey, Shirley Lubin, Gere and Leo Oliva and Ruth Kranitz. Experienced restaurateurs are watchful when it comes to dining cleanliness . . . That's why Sila is continually in the 90s ratings by the Oakland County Health Department. The decor is plain and sim- ple . . . a large mural on the wall behind its bar depicts a water and mountain scene in Italy . . . Wall paintings of Italian scenes are also in the front area . . . plus original signed paintings on canvas brought back from Italy years ago by Guido. Confidence from experience . . . this is what so many Sila customers have become ac- customed to in the casual in- formal dining atmosphere. The Sila experience is a good one. /1 ,-/ N ( MAIL DEPT. . . . from Rae Zukin . . . "In your column in the May 31 issue of The Jewish News, you wrote about all the restaurants of yesteryears. Everytime you do a column on this subject, you never mention Zukin's, which is a very familiar name in the Jewish community, and has been from the 1940s through 1965, starting with the ice cream and candy store on 12th and Hazelwood, then on Dexter Boulevard in the '50s and West Seven Mile Road in the '60s. We're sure you remember them well since you and your family were probably frequent visitors, expecially on Dexter, remembered for our famous ice cream fantasies original- ly created by Leon Zukin, and served through 1965 in our restaurant by his son, Norman. I feel we are as much a part of Strolling Through Yesteryears' as all the other places you name in these columns, and wonder