AVENUE DINER Jewish Cuisine Goes To The East Side DANNY RASKIN LOCAL COLUMNIST Avenue Diner...Michigan's Newest "In" Place Avenue Diner introduces executive chef Kirk Robinson from Pike Street in Pontiac and sous chef Michael Dunn from the Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas. They offer an innovative menu ranging from cutting-edge cuisine to comfort foods. Fresh fish and specials are presented daily with a savory twist. Avenue Diner wines are an eclectic mix of California, French and Australian bottles picked for their outstanding values. Sans Snob relatives the spirit of the list and blends complex with inexpensive offerings. ENTERTAINMENT-DANCING Wed. & Sat. Evenings Featuring DAVID BALL KEVIN CROSBY Thurs. & Fri. Evenings "Back To Back" GWEN FOX GREG DOKES EXCITING AMERICAN CUISINE • PRIVATE PARTIES • CATERING • SHOWERS • BAR MITZVAHS * "a" FREE LIMOUSINE SERVICE FOR LUNCH RESERVATION (810) 549-2000 (5 Mile Radius) Complimentary Valet Service 4616 Woodward, Royal Oak Just South of 14 Mile Your Host: David Lachman AT OUR NEW NOVI LOCATION ONLY EARLY BIRD DINNER SPECIALS Monday thru Friday Only 3pm-5pm MONDAY - LIVER & ONIONS OR BEEF STROGANOFF TUESDAY - POT ROAST OR ChlOCEN PARMESAN WEDNESDAY - RoAsTED OicKEN OR BAKED Coo THURSDAY - SFER-ERD'S PE oR STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST FRIDAY - MEAT LOAF OR FISH AND CI-ES EARLY BIRD $695 - OTHER DAILY EARLY BIRD SPECIALS AVAILABLE AT REDUCED PRICES No Coupons, Plate Sharing or Carry Outs 43317 East Grand River, Novi (810) 305-5856 W ith nothing more to with the help of his sister, Karen prove in the restaurant Supian, also serves ... Karen as- world, having carved a sists with the cooking, too. solid niche as one of the L'Chaim is like a restaurant nation's finest dining emporiums, within a restaurant, with reser- Van Dyke Place on Van Dyke vations required for dining on the and Jefferson has added anoth- non-smoking second level, seat- er gem to its treasured list. ing about 30 people ... Guests can Traditional Jewish foods are also order from the L'Chaim being received with high popularity at Van Dyke Place, noted as one of three Michigan restau- rants rated among the top 50 by a Conde Nast Trav- eler's reader poll ... Its ranking was 21 ... The others are the Whitney and the Lark ... A 1994- 95 DiRoNa award for "dedication to excellence in providing delicious food, great wines and spirits and extraordinary service. A truly distinguished restaurant" was also received by Van Dyke Place. When a restaurant has achieved such high signif- icance, you may ask, why burden the executive chef with learning culinary skills of yet another cook- John McCarthy, Keith Supian and Ron Fox. ing style? It would be difficult to pre- menu in the downstairs areas of pare the Jewish dishes served at Van Dyke Place ... When mak- Van Dyke Place if the executive ing a reservation, folks will ask chef wasn't Jewish and hadn't to be given the L'Chaim menu ... been brought up with its teach- The upstairs area is considered ings. most desirable because of cus- Executive Chef Keith Supian tomers being surrounded by peo- attended Beth Achim Hebrew ple they perhaps know. School, graduated Southfield- Keith looks at his Jewish cook- Lathrup High and was in the fine ing with a sharp eye on the Schoolcraft College culinary pro- health angles ... He tries to stay gram ... If ingredients are in the away from fat as much as possi- house, he will make whatever ble, using vegetable oil instead customers desire. with highly gratifying results. In the meantime, his enor- The L'Chaim at Van Dyke mous talents have released a Place "Noshing Menu" showcas- wonderful dining experience es Keith's talented culinary ex- drawn from Keith's Jewish her- pertise. itage ... and so the L'Chaim din- Both Jews and non-Jews love ing. his chicken soup with stuffed He is the son of Beverly and matzah balls, $3; chatzilim (egg- Bernard Supian, and has been plant caviar) $5; vegetarian executive chef at Van Dyke Place chopped liver, $5; Reuben-style three years ... before that sous blintzes (corned beef, sauerkraut, chef two years and cook one year. Swiss cheese, wrapped in a The rugelach and mandelbrot blintz-type pancake and served he makes are from recipes of his over braised cabbage with Russ- grandmother, Hannah Geller- ian dressing), $6; yaprikas man, who handed down her in- (stuffed grape leaves served with structions to daughters, Beverly, abbas) $6; schmaltz herring cro- and Roberta Brown, married to quettes (herring with wine sauce Seymour Brown ... Another ground with onions, eggs, salt aunt, Emily, is wed to Joe Krin- and pepper, parsley and dill, veg- sky, former owner of Rosen's etable oil, bread crumbs and a bit Bread and Bonnie Bakery. of matzah meal flour, served with Beverly and Bernard Supian new potato salad and dill dipping love it when son Keith comes over sauce), $8; miniature eggplant ... He cooks, washes dishes and, filled with lamb and almonds, $8; baked whitefish crusted with matzah and pistachios, $10; kasha meatloaf and fidellos tosta- dos, $9; pan-roasted apricot chicken with walnuts, currants and potato latke, $12; grilled salmon stuffed cabbage leaves and potato knishe, $13; glazed beef brisket over kasha var- nishkes, $12; apple strudel, $4; rice kugel, $4; etc. Van Dyke Place, with its ex- quisitely-elegant surroundings, was originally built in 1900 as the mansion residence of Finck Over- alls king William Muir Finck An artistic grace creates the feel- ing of intimate European dining salons of Paris and Vienna dur- ing yesteryears of tasteful beau- tY. Three rooms on the main floor and four on the second level seat 100 ... Another lower level area, formerly a billiard room, can be used by groups for planned re- ceptions. John McCarthy and Ron Fox purchased the mansion to make into a restaurant ... They opened on Aug. 18, 1981, with the inten- tion of John doing the cooking and Ron taking care of the din- ing rooms ... It had been the Finck family home through the `60s and then sold to designer Ruth Joyce, who lived there and sold her clothes in the residence. John and Ron are the nation's only single proprietors with the distinction of having two restau- rants winning the DiRoNa (dis- tinguished restaurants of North America) award in the same year ... They also own the Whitney on Woodward, another former man- sion.