I LISTENING POST

The Neuman Family
and Staff of

STAR DELI

Michigan's Finest Deli Carry-Out

352-7377

24555 W 12 Mile

Wish Their Friends
and Customers
A VERY HEALTHY
AND HAPPY

PASSOVER

We Will Close Friday, April 17 at 6 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday
Reopening Monday, April 20 at 7 a.m.
To Further Service Your Traditional Needs
For Passover, We Will Have
• Homemade Gefilte Fish
• Homemade Matzo Ball Soup
• Homemade Kishke • Etc.

FAMILY ITALIAN DINING & PIZZA

"RATED #1 BY THE ONES WHO COUNT-OUR CUSTOMERS"

4033 W. 12 MILE, 3 Blks. E. of Greenfield
Berkley I HAPPY PASSOVER I 548-3650
DAILY LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS

01(

F

0, A

ON FOOD PURCHASES
OF $6 OR MORE

DINING ROOM, CARRY-OUT

ONLY ONE COUPON PER PURCHASE
COUPON NOT VALUD WITH DAILY SPECIALS OR OTHER COUPONS • Expires 4-30-92

“itero,
Wishes Its

Customers and Friends
A Very Happy and Healthy New Year

7295 ORCHARD LAKE RD. AT NORTHWESTERN HWY.
IN ROBIN'S NEST SHOPPING CENTER
West Bloomfield
737-0160

72

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1992

I BEST OF EVERYTHING I

There's A Certain Etiquette
That Goes With The Old Vintage

DANNY RASKIN

Local Columnist

fter telling Art
Horwitz about wine
prices at the Forge in
Florida with its vino book
listings hovering above the
$5,000 mark for aged Cha-
teau Lafitte-Rothschild and
others, he wondered what
would happen if the waiter
uncorked an expensive bottle
and discovery was made that
the wine was spoiled.
I mentioned the curiosity to
Reid Ashton, founder, presi-
dent and co-partner of the
prestigious four-star Golden
Mushroom, whose dining and
wining awards take up walls
at the spot lorded over by he
and Master Chef Milos Cihel-
ka on 10 Mile, west of
Southfield.
Reid writes . . . "When
someone orders food or wine
in a restaurant or store, they
are expected to know what
they ordered and what it
should taste like.
"Many of us will occasional-
ly try something new. It looks
good in the store or sounds
good on the menu and we
want to learn something. If
we take the product home
from a store and it is too spicy
or too bland, we accept the
fact that we do not like it. We
do not take it back to the
store owner and complain.
After all, we made the choice.
"In restaurants, some peo-
ple feel that even though they
made the choice, the restau-
rant should pay for their mis-
take. Recently a customer or-
dered pate foie gras, a cold ap-
petizer made from very large
duck livers and world renown-
ed as a very special delicacy.
A couple of minutes later, he
told the waiter he did not like
it and did not expect to pay for
it. There was absolutely noth-
ing wrong with the dish. He
did not know what he was or-
dering and his palate was not
as sophisticated as many of
our patrons. We did not argue
with the customer or try to
educate him which would
have only embarrassed him.
We accepted the loss and kept
a customer.
"Now this loss on food is un-
fortunate but pales in compa-
rison to the potential loss on
wine, particularly older and
thus more expensive wine.
Generally people will select a
bottle of wine to go with their
dinner that they have knowl-
edge of. They may have tried
it before or may have seen it
in their local wine shop. If

they are unsure the wine they
have selected will comple-
ment the food, then they will
discuss it with their server,
the wine steward, or the man-
ager. At this point, they may
be guided to try something
similar but with subtle dif-
ferences that will blend better
with their food choice.
"Some people are knowl-
edgeable in wines, mostly in
the more recent vintages, and
here is where the old adage,
`A little bit of knowledge can
be dangerous' may hold true.
A special event comes up and
our fictitious connoisseur and
his wife are dining out. This
couple decides to order an old
bottle of wine, say 1910, with
a value of $1,000. The wine
has been properly stored, the
cork is carefully removed, the
wine is candled and it is
allowed to breathe. Candling
is a process of decanting a
wine into a crystal decanter
by holding a candle in back of
the wine bottle. As you slow-
ly pour the wine into the de-
canter, you watch the sedi-
ment at the bottom of the bot-
tle because the candlelight
shines through the dark
glass. You could use a small
electric lamp but that is not
as historic or traditional. As
the sediment creeps up the
side of the tipped bottle, you
pour carefuly so as to retain
it in the shoulder of the bot-
tle. Finally, when you cannot
pour anymore, you stop and
leave the bottle on the table
for the guest.

Should you pay for
that old wine if
you don't like the
taste? There are
different rules for
food and for wine.

"Now our customer tries a
glass of the wine and is disap-
pointed. It is not as fruity, the
color is dark and the bouquet
is not as dynamic or pungent
as the cabernet sauvignon he
is used to drinking, so the
customer considers the wine
bad and complains to the
wine steward. The wine
steward tries the wine and
knows that it is excellent con-
sidering its age. If the wine is
turning sour or is bad in any
way, of course the customer is
not expected to pay for it. In
this scenario, we have a
dilemma. The root of the pro-
blem is that the customer has
not tried old wines and does

not understand the dif-
ferences.
"Let us assume that this
82-year-old wine is from a
well-known and respected
French vineyard and that our
customer is very familiar
with its recent vintage. The
differences between wine that
is 10-20 years old and wine
that is 80 years old are many.
To start, the vines could be
pre-phylloxera, depending on
the age of the wine and the
specific area grown. In other
words, the wine was made
from grape vines that were all
killed off by the phylloxera
blight and replanted years
later. Wine may darken with
old age but this has little ef-
fect on its bouquet or taste.
"Generally you must drink
old decanted wine fairly soon
because it cannot breathe as
long as a wine that is 10-20
years old. Old wines have
their own distinct
characteristics. While the
bouquet may be lighter, it is
generally more complex with
subtle flavors that younger
wines have not had time to
develop. Winemakers 80
years ago had a completely
different style in making
wines compared to wine
makers after World War II.
There are so many factors
that go into a wine that just
because you are not familiar
with its style does not mean
that it is bad. In this case, the
customer should pay for the
wine?'
GET WELL WISHES .
to George Lipshaw . . .
recuperating at home in Las
Vegas following a stroke .. .
Congrats to George on his
65th birthday celebrated with
a surprise party by wife Fran
for 40 friends in their Las
Vegas clubhouse.
"HATS OFF TO Our
Chefs" this Monday by Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation at In-
dustry nitery in Pontiac will
honor six culinary artists for
their ongoing support in bat-
tling this disease plus other
communitywide causes.
Matthew Prentice, Unique
Restaurant Corp.; Keith
Famie, Les Auteurs; Ed
Janos, Too Chez; Richard
Benson, Schoolcraft College
and named chef of the year;
Milos Cihelka, Golden Mush-
room; and Brian Polcyn, Pike
Street and Chimayo.
Event begins with VIP ($75)
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. including
open bar, food and special gift
. . . General admission ($30 at
door, $25 in advance) at any
of the above mentioned res-
taurants or Ticketmaster, is

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