WHY YOUR
PARTY PLANS
SHOULD
INCLUDE US.

Whatever occasion
you're planning,
we'll customize all our
banquet services
to meet your
needs and budget.
Ask us for more
information.

One Hot Restaurant
With Cool Taste, Anniversary

DANNY RASKIN LOCAL COLUMNIST

BUSINESS MEETINGS

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SPORTS BANQUETS

REHEARSAL DINNERS

HOLIDAY BANQUETS

SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

CUSTOMIZED
BANQUET SPECIALISTS

OUNTAIN
CK'S•

.LA

PILIXE RIB • CROKE STEAKS

26855 Greenfield • Southfield 557-0570

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SEEN AT MARVIN'S 1

LISTED IN
WORLD ALMANAC'S PAT LEVINE, Cong. Beth Abraham Hillel Moses
100 MOST
Youth Advisor; KAREN KNOPPOW, Kadima/
UNUSUAL MUSEUMS USY Field Worker; IRV HERMAN, Retired; FAITH
IN THE USA
TAM, Youth Director, Cong. Beth Shalom; YAN

REMEMBER'
WED NIGHTS ARE
SINGLE PARENTS
NIGHT

BACZKOWSKI, USY Advisor; BRADLEY SCHLAFER,
Future Stockbroker; BILL NELKIN, Kosher Food
Sales; STUART WILLNER, D.O., Anesthesiologist

I BIRTHDAY PARTIES • GIFT CERTIFICATES

[SERVICE, RENTAL & PROPS FOR THEME PA TIES1

•1 Coupon per Visit • Expires 12-10-92

31005 ORCHARD LAKE RD.

626-5020

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MON.-SAT. 10-10, SUNDAYS 12-8

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Featuring Mandarin & Szechaun Food Plus American Menu

WE HELP YOU WATCH YOUR HEALTH!

ONLY NO CHOLESTEROL VEGETABLE OIL USED
3950 14 MILE RD. CORNER HAGGERTY

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(In The Newberry Shopping Center)

1701 1071—

960-7666

1

20%
OFF
DINNER

With This Coupon
• Expires 12-17-92
• Not Good With Any Other Promotions

76

OPEN 7 DAYS
•DINE IN & CARRY-OUT•
Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
& Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
mu
Sun. 12:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

1 * - 1

SENIOR CITIZEN
DISCOUNT

10%

( Exceipt With Discounts)

2

ANY HOUR! ANYDAY!

CREATE YOUR OWN PLATTER. CHOOSE
FROM A WIDE SELECTION OF ENTREES AND
ANY OF THREE DIFFERENT VEGETABLES.

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mid the splendor of
one of Metropolitan
Detroit's most excit-
ing restaurants lies a
large misconception as it
celebrates its first anni-
versary.
Cocina del Sol, cuisine of
the sun, on Northwestern
Highway between Beck and
12 Mile, former Victoria Sta-
tion locale, is noted for its
Southwestern food with a
Midwestern flair, but its kit-
chen contains much more
than this.
Norwegian salmon, cooked
however guests want it,
poached, blackened, grilled,
etc., and whitefish, prepared
in a good straightforward way
without any fancy frilling, are
among the top seafood sellers
prepared by Executive Chef
Jeff Drew and his kitchen
staff.
He and very personable
General Manager Rozanne
McGraw opened Cocina del
Sol on Nov. 22, 1991, for Jim-
my Schmidt and Mike Ilitch
and have produced an opera-
tion that is one of the better
ones around.
The tasty Southwestern
dishes are many, but contrary
to much belief, can be gotten
as mild or spicy as a person's
taste buds will enjoy . . .
When ordered properly,
Southwestern food is a savory
delight.
Fajitas, steak or chicken,
are the number one seller at
Cocina del Sol . . . but pizza
also has a big place . . .
especially for the kids who
love the four-cheese type with
smoked chicken served on
black beans . . . Adults also
find it a tempting treat.
And not too many people
are aware that Cocina del Sol
serves roasted, baked or bar-
b-q chicken, New York strip
steak, BBQ baby back ribs,
Caesar salad and Caesar with
chicken strips, hamburgers,
turkey breast, etc. . . . all en-
trees can be had with
Southwestern flavor, if
desired.
Cocina del Sol is big on
vegetarian items . . . burritos,
plates with 10 or 12 various
vegetables on it and others
. . . In fact, most of the Mex-
ican dishes are already
vegetarian . . . The black
bean soup is a standout.
An important factor is that
no food at this top dining spot
is made with anything but

very healthy canola oil .. .
There are no butter sauces,
and food thickenings are on-
ly from natural sources .. .
No such things either as
frozen or canned products.
When it opened last
November, Cocina del Sol
became an instant rage .. .
The recent November issue of
Esquire magazine names it
one of "The Best Restaurants
of 1992," as does Michigan
Living . . . It has already been
given the prestigious Wine
Spectator 1992 Award of Ex-
cellence and received first
place in Restaurant Hospitali-
ty's Top Of The Table
competition.
Traditional Mexican dishes,
together with Southwestern
and everyday American fare,
are prepared and served with
dexterous abilities . . . Chef
Jeff Drew, who came here
after being executive chef at
the River Place, and Rozanne,
former Rattlesnake Club
manager, are exemplars of top
quality.
Jeff's kitchen is filled with
people who helped open
Cocina del Sol . . . James
Pecherski started as line cook
and is now sous chef; Richard
Wroblewski, also a former
line cook, is day chef; Fred
Forrest, broiler chef; Richard
Custer, appetizer chef; Todd
Saul, saute chef; Pascal
LaMarre and Willie Duncan,
expediters.
Rozanne is equally proud of
people there from day one like
Ray La Puma, bartender;
Stacey Latour, evening
hostess; Keven Terrel,
cashier; Dave Starzyk,
waitperson; Chris Cho,
waitperson; and Sonia King,
server assistant.
Another fallacy that seems
to tag along with Cocina del
Sol has been promoted by peo-
ple who have never been
there . . . Its pricing is
nowhere near what those peo-
ple have in mind .. . . Where
they got the "expensive"
thought is beyond imagina-
tion . . . They must be think-
ing about some other place
. . . Cocina's popular prices
are very much within reason.
If you're a color buff, you'll
love Cocina del Sol with its
orange stucco, red colorings,
three reflecting pools, zinc-
topped bar in between yellow,
purple and pink archways
and pillars, hot pink and
magenta bar chairs that were

airbrushed by Jimmy
Schmidt.
Chairs in the two rooms
were originally from Victoria
Station . . . Now they are
painted with a zig-zag look
. . . no two are alike . . . and
carved in an Old West motif
. . . Even the coffeepots are
the kind you see over an out-
door open fire in those cowboy
movies.
The Aztec designs are
coupled with Southwest pat-
terns throughout the two din-
ing rooms, as masks and dolls
adorn its walls.
Not many places have two
Happy Hours each day .. .
Leave it to Jimmy and Mike
to do sommething different
. . . Plenty of food and drink
from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Monday-Friday . . . A second
one is 9:30 p.m to 11 p.m.
Monday-Thursday and 10
p.m.-midnight Friday and
Saturday.
The Eric Brandon group

Neither prices nor
taste has to be
spicy.

plays a lot of music every
Thursday evening.
Cocona del Sol seats 180
people, with 15 at the bar and
another 12 at a bar table .. .
Its Sunday Family Nights
have gained much popularity
. . . There's a kids menu every
day plus crayons, Magna
Doodles and Little Sippers
with straws that the
youngsters can take home.
The margaritas at Cocina
del Sol are favorites with
their 100 percent freshly-
squeezed lime juice.
When people order food, the
waitstaff is trained to never
say no to whatever people ask
for . . . If Jeff or Rozanne have
the ingredients in house, the
preparation will be made .. .
Special requests are a big
thing with them.
1992 has been good to
Cocina del Sol, which
emerged as probably one of
Michigan's finest restaurants
. . . A sincere hope with fer-
vent first birthday wishes are
that people stop thinking it
only served spicy South-
western food . . . or is expen-
sive . . . When they do, many
more guests will discover a
polished Northwest jewel.

C