yt

Plan The Perfect
tY1 salad packages for
Par and

This Italian Restaurant
Goes Jewish On Request

* All-you-can-eat pizza
groups of 15.100
* In Buddy's party roo rn.
your office party.
* Carry-out service for
today. '
eservations
* Call for r

WATERFORD • 663-363 6
d.
Highland Road (IA-59) at Pontiac lake R

BIRMINGHAM • 64541300
Maple Rd. &Lahser

FARMINGTON HLLS • 655-460 4
Northwestern Hwy. eN. Middlebelt)

ROYAL OAK • 649-8000
Woodward, 6 blocks N. of 13 Mile Rd.

DANNY RASKIN LOCAL COLUMNIST

I

00OFFAny Large Pizza
or Antipasto Salad
Dine In or Carry-Out

)1,1 Expires 3-31-93

BAKED SHORT RIBS $565
DINNER

CHOICE OF SOUP OR SALAD

DELI and RESTAURANT

SHIVA DINNERS & PARTY TRAYS...Free Deilivery

I

I

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner ... Mon.-Fri. 7a.m.-8 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-3 p.m.

352-4940
21754 W. 11 MILE AT LAHSER • HARVARD ROW Fax: 352-9393

Jane's
Place

///1_ ■11_■■■11■111■ 11M

(any', Pl.,,

"

alk.51..AAIO!.4.-Selari .116A6eilib" '

Casual Dlning at Popular Prices in an Intimate Cafe Setting

25861 LAHSER AT CIVIC CENTER DRIVE • SOUTHFIELD

MON.-THURS. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. FRI. & SAT. 1 I a.m.-1 1 p.m., Sun. 12 noon-8p.m. •

r

354 3640

-

1

DINNER FOR TWO

FRI., SAT. & SUN., FEB. 26, 27, 28

CHOICE OF 8 COMPLETE ENTREES!

ALSO INCLUDES: BEVERAGE & DESSERT, gP
SOUP OR SALAD AND PITA BREAD.

I-

Not Valid With Any Other Coupons or Offers

KENNY HELFER

AT THE KEYBOARD

FRI. & SAT. 6:30 P.M.-9:30 P.M.

95
per

couplej

WE ARE NOW OPEN

SUNDAYS 12 noon to 8 p.m.

T J EWIS H N EWS

OUR FABULOUS 8-COURSE
GOURMET DINNER FOR TWO

419

NOTHING LIKE IT ANYWHERE! LOOK WHAT YOU GET!
ALL THIS
FOR
FOR
2
ONLY
• EXOTIC DRINKS • CHOICE COCKTAILS • PRIVATE DINING ROOM • CATERING • LUNCHES

SIZZLING SOUP, CRAB RAGOON, FRIED WONTON
VEGETABLE GEE MAH MEIN, SHANGHAI CHICKEN,
FRIED SHRIMP W/ BLACK BEAN SAUCE, FRIED RICE,
PEANUT BUTTER SUNDAE W/ FORTUNE COOKIE

TriE GPEAT wArl.

33135 Grand River rakeshire Shopping Center)

476-9181

Advertising in The Jewish News
Gets Results
Place Your Ad Today.

Call 354-6060

Lisle

he fifth anniversary of
a popular neighbor-
hood Italian restau-
rant also reveals some
of the best that the former
Darbys had to offer.
Authentic cheese blintzes at
an Italian restaurant? . . .
Just like you used to get at
Darbys? . . . Mama Levitt in
the kitchen back then taught
the night chef, Vito DePalma,
how to make cheese blintzes,
potato pancakes, chicken
poulette, etc., and he became
a master at the traditional
Jewish dishes which are serv-
ed at his DePalma's
restaurant on Plymouth,
about three blocks west of
Merriman in Livonia.
Vito was evening chef at
Darbys from 1959 to 1964,
making the wonderful
favorites for which people
came from all parts of the ci-
ty . . . and state, too . . . He
became so adept that cheese
blintzes are now one of his
specialties at DePalma's
along with the other items.
His mother and father in
Italy were fine cooks and Vito
followed in their footsteps
with common sense that
made for kitchen mastery .. .
After all, food is food and
taste is universal . . . He used
to make Italian dishes for
many of the staff at Darbys
and it wasn't strange to see
some eating cheese blintzes
with one forkful and linguine
with another.
When calling for reserva-
tions, just tell Vito you want
some cheese blintzes, potato
pancakes or chicken poulette
and he'll have it ready .. .
"Sam Boesky (the late owner
of Darbys) treated me like a
son," says Vito, who makes
these great dishes with much
reverence of a loved
restaurant institution and
restaurateur.
DePalma's is now one of
your better neighborhood
Italian restaurants but it
wasn't an easy road for Vito
. . . The first year was rough
and it is with much credit to
him and his general manager
from the beginning, Ray
Borden, that they were able
to get their act together for
the better with considerable
straightening out.
All the breads are made by
Vito . . . even the delicious
Crostini cinnamon crackers
bread which he serves at the
restaurant and is so good that

it will be packaged soon to
sell in stores . . . He makes
his own pasta too, a big plus
for sure.
Seating at DePalma's is 125
in the main dining room and
20 in a lounge area . . . A
restaurant renovation last
summer did much for its am-
bience . . . Still nice and cozy
with new chairs, teal-and-
burgundy linen napkins to go
with the new coverings at
tables and booths, the latter
all moved to another wall and
separated by green, pink and
brown ruffled drapes . . .
Pasta in the back area hangs
from the ceiling a la the old
country way of drying it out.
The thick bodied mine-
strone soup is made from veal
and chicken stock, no beef .. .
All the food is homemade and
there's not a can to be found
. . . It's what a mom-and-pop
operation should be like.
When Vito left Darbys he
went to work at an Italian
restaurant in Brooklyn for a
year-and-a-half called
Bonaparte . . . DePalma's
looks a lot like Bonaparte and
contains Vito's fantasy come
true . . . to also have a celebri-
ty wall . . . He used to cook for
Tony Bennett, Al Martino,
Shirley MacLaine, Dom
DeLuise among others and
they'd autograph their pic-
tures for its celebrity wall.
With the George Burns
Theatre only three blocks
away, and its stars regular
customers at DePalma's while
appearing there, Vito is hav-
ing no difficult in fulfilling
his fantasy.
There's even a touch of Dar-
bys in Vito's wife, Giulia, even
though they weren't married
when he was its evening chef
. . . Remember the Darbys
cheesecake? . .. Giulia has
her own recipe for the favorite
dessert and makes it along
with the cannolis and lady
fingers . . . When they wed in
1967 he tried as much as
possible to show her how the
Darbys cheesecake was made
. . . She is his hostess on Fri-
day and Saturday evenings
. . . Their daughter, Gracie, is
also hostess on weekends, and
son Paul is evening manager
. . . Joanne St. Clair is
DePalma's day manager.
Vito loves opera . . . he
remembers going to sleep on
his mother's lap in Italy
listening to beautiful operatic
strains . . . Every Wednesday

evening is Opera Night
DePalma's with Dino Vall
baritone; Valeria Yov
soprano; David Wilso
pianist; and guest artists . .
Tuesday and Thursday a
strolling musicians.
Sunday brunch was recen
ly installed at DePalma's an
has become an immediat
favorite.
There's a faint odor
deliciousness when you ente
the front door of DePalma'
that seeps out slightly fro
the kitchen and brings abou
much fingertip kissing .
The menu is classic trad
tional homemade Italian wit
dishes to which everyone ca
relate . . . Its homemad
pasta lineup is larger than a
most Italian places . . . abou
20 different selections.
Cheese blintzes at a
Italian restaurant? . . . Potat
pancakes too with sour cre
or apple sauce? . . . Why not
. . . If the mood hits you fo
some by Darbys former nigh
chef, just remember to orde
them when making you

Just call ahead to
order blintzes and
many other Jewish
delicacies.

reservation . . . Vito DePalma
will get just as much a kick
out of preparing them as you
will in eating the delicacies.
ONE DAY in the future,
it'll be "Shel Rott, Vickie Car-
rol and Family" as the
musical group doing wed-
dings, bar mitzvahs and par-
ties around town.
But for now, Shel and
Vickie, who are back in the
rhythm for events groove
after a three-year leave (they
had Guest Artists recording
studio in former Hunters
Square), are booking the
festivities with fast fervor.
Folks remember their
heimish kind of entertain-
ment that pleases so many as
well as music of all times for
all ages . . . One of Vickie's
funny bits was singing "What
I Did For Love" while preg-
nant with one of hers and
Shel's children.
She sang on the Decca label
in 1964 thru 1966 . . . and