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WHY YOUR
PARTY PLANS
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INCLUDE US.
I BEST OF EVERYTHING I
Whatever occasion
you're planning,
we'll customize all our
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to meet your
needs and budget.
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information.
A Rochester Establishment
Is A Best-Kept Secret
DANNY RASKIN
Local Columnist
BUSINESS MEETINGS
SPORTS BANQUETS
I
REHEARSAL DINNERS
HOLIDAY BANQUETS
SPECLAL OCCASIONS.
CUSTONIIZED
BANQUET SPECIALISTS
4411
MOUNTAIN
Cli'S
PRIME RIB • CHOICE STEAKS
26855 Greenfield Road
Southfield
557-0570
RATED 4 STARS
By MOLLY ABRAHAM
Detroit Free Press
Restaurant Critic
"A Gourmet Dining Expe-
rience On A Shoestring
Budget!"
— SANDRA SILFVEN
Detroit News Restaurant Critic
VISIT OUR
AUTHENTIC ENOTECA
(Wine Library)
WITH OVER 40 CHOICE WINES BY THE GLASS
HOMEMADE
• FRESH PASTAS • ITALIAN SPECIALTIES • PROVIMI VEAL
• CHICKEN • LAMB • BEEF • FRESH SEAFOOD
Serving Lunch and Dinner 7 Days
Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-12 Mid.
Sar. 12 noon-12 Mid., Sun. 12 noon-9 p.m.
14 MILE ROAD
15015
13 MILE RD.,
West Of Hayes
Warren
29 -2800
Contemporary American Cuisine
Dinner 4 p.m.
Lunch 11 a.m.
Entertainment Tuesday Thru Saturday
APPEARING TUES.-SAT.:
INTRIGUE
Banquet Facilities
Available
TOP OF TROY BLDG. 755
Concourse W. Big Beaver at 1-75
362-1262
t may be a well-worn
statement but how else
would you describe one of
metropolitan Detroit's best-
kept secrets? . . . In a
Michigan Living reader poll,
Rochester Chop House was
listed among four best-kept
secrets in nouvelle cuisine .. .
and according to many
customers "in the dining
know," it has been a confiden-
tial pride since opening last
Oct. 15.
Here, too, is the background
touch of Chuck Muer, owner
with Bill Kruse who indeed
can speak for himself when it
comes to restaurant
know-how.
Bill had been with Chuck
17 years as his vice president
and in 1988 struck out for
himself with Chuck as a
silent partner . . . This is
when they opened Kruse and
Muer Quality Foods at
Meadowbrook Village Mall in
Rochester Hills and followed
with Kruse and Muer, a block
away from Rochester Chop
House on Main Street in
Rochester.
Formerly Cooper's Arms for
many years, owned by Roger
Knapp since 1970, the locale
originally was the site of the
Rochester Club razed by fire
in the '60s.
You might say that
Rochester Chop House has a
"dual personality" because of
being two restaurants in one
. . . "One area," says Ray,
"sets the tone for a classic
dining experience while the
other offers a fun-loving
casualness."
The 160-seat traditional
chop house has dining rooms
on two levels with a steak
room and lobster room, each
owning its own individual
decor . . . Patterned after
similar vintage
establishments in Chicago,
New York and San Francisco,
its low-key elegance is
characterized by wood floors
and tables, white linens and
hand-painted murals showing
scenic landmarks of
Rochester . . . Dinner time
brings a wide variety of chop
house favorites . . . beef,
poultry, veal, fish, etc.
Then there's the casual am-
biance of an open-air market,
East Coast-like seafood pub,
the 60-seat Kabin Kruser's
Oyster Bar that features
chalkboard menus, tiled
floors. hammered stainless
steel bar, high tables, iced
"beds" brimming with bottl-
ed beverages and numerous
seafood delicacies.
How many times have you
gone to a restaurant and
forgotten the waitperson's
name? . . . This doesn't hap-
pen at Rochester Chop House
. . . They make sure of it .. .
People like dining room
supervisor Dawn Nadley not
only take you to your seat but
pull out a crayon or marker
and print the waitperson's
name big and bold on the side
of a large brown butcher
paper draped in a triangle
over the white linen . . . Bow-
tied waitstaffers like Carter
Overall, a veritable Rochester
history book plus being a fine
waiter, appreciate this touch
for closer informality with
customers.
Vince Clark, general
manager, chief operating of-
ficer and part owner with Ray
and Chuck, is like a member
of the family . . . Back in 1988
when Ray was Chuck's veep,
Vince toiled as his regional
manager.
The potential of chef Larry
Sledge had never really been
tapped until coming to
Rochester Chop House . . .
Larry was at both Fairlane
Charley's and Kruse and
Muer but not truly able to
show what he could do . . . His
beautiful presentations on
the oversized plates are color-
ful offerings to enhance much
palate pleasing.
Entrance to Rochester Chop
House is both front and rear
. . . From Main Street, people
come into Kabin Kruser with
its old Chris Craft ads . . . The
canopied back with private
parking enters into the chop
house with its large steak
knives instead of those ser-
rated ones that sometimes
don't do the proper job, dark
wood, full wall mirrors, in-
timacy, pleasant lighting and
lots of brick.
Ray Kruse is closer to his
dream than perhaps he
himself realizes . . . to some-
day have a restaurant called
"Ray Kruse's" with accep-
tance of being as fine a
restaurateur as the one own-
ed by Chuck Muer . . . Their
Rochester Chop House is a
giant step toward that some-
day fulfillment with another
dining winner brought to this
fast-growing locale.
CONGRATS to Sean
Goldman . . . on his 16th
birthday . . . First thing he
did? . . . Go get his driver's
license.
GRADUATES OF Detroii.'
Central High 1942 class who
have not received invitations—'
for the reunion being held
Aug. 22 at Fairlane Club in
Dearborn can call Harold
Elson, 361-9114; or Elaine
Lacoff, 356-7029.
A GOOD Caesar salad at a
Coney operation? . . . And
considered among the best?
. . . It's a fact at the newly c'
opened Ramone's Coney Cafe
in Sunset Strip on North= -)
western Highway between 12.,
Mile and Inkster.
But there's a reason for it
. . . The gent making the
popular Caesar at one time
carved quite a mark for him- ,
self while evening maitre 'd
the former Duglass Duglass,
owned by Doug Grech on
Southfield Road . . . He spent )
10 years with Doug prior to
leaving five months before it
closed in 1989 after taking
over for Manuel Chavez from,)
1983.
In those days, Duglasg -
Duglass was the only area
restaurant with cappuccino
and espresso coffee . . .Thesei
too are at Ramone's Coneyn
Cafe . . . Duglass Duglass was )
also the region's first lI
restaurant to have chicken ff.
marinated overnight in a J
Caesar sauce, then grille
and put into a Caesar salad
. . . This Ramone's still does
. . . For now, the salad with or )
without chicken, is pre-mixed
and served with the dressing ,,J
when ordered . . . joined by
croutons made by Ramone.
However, come sometime in
September, the Caesar salad
plus other items by Ramone
will be made tableside to com-
plement a menu that'll in-
elude salmon, swordfish., ,
whitefish with herb sauce
and many other noted Li
Duglass Duglass dishes, in-
cluding flaming desserts.
Ramone's Coney Cafe is
open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., but <
in September the hours will
be 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
It's just a little place,
seating only 40 at tables and
a small counter with about
seven seats . . . It isn't likely
one would expect to see fresh Ei
flowers, gaspacho or
vichyssoise at a coney setup;:-E,
but Ramone's restaurant is
quite different than the norm
. . . He comes in 4 a.m. and
makes everything fresh, in-
cluding his own cheesecake
. . . About his coneys, kosher
hot dogs are used when ask-,
ed for . . . also on the menu
are cottage fried potatoes
which aren't seen at too many