ntertammen Restaurants Are Forgetting A Key Ingredient: Atmosphere M Meat trays Dairy trays $5.65 per person $10.50 per person WITH THIS COUPON 24555 W. 12 MILE Just west of Telegraph • Southfield 248 • 352 • 7377 LET US CATER YOUR NEXT AFFAIR Authentic Szechualr.` Cooking • '.-- resh Seafood • c ocktails • J---lome of General TSO'S Chicke0 • '-V‘o MSG on all dishes •A) eget4nan Dishes aily Specials 39450 14 Mile Rd. corner (Atiagrty in Newberry Square Pla (810) 960-7666 Original location: 29215 5 Mile DINE IN OR CARRYOUT 92 - Not good with any otheroffer 1 coupon per table • with coupon Expires 9/30/97 ort Eskin, barrister and the tremendous sums they're on that information. I remember former restaurateur, spending to present contempo- Ben Weinberg who lived on writes, "Recently, I had rary-looking restaurants and en- Highland as a youngster and the occasion to dine at one deavoring to recover their cost was a close friend of Mitch of the newer restaurants that within a very short period of Tendler, who later became as- opened in the metropolitan De- time. sistant racing commissioner. troit area and like a lot of re- "They have lost sight of what "Ben, in his high school years, cently opened restaurants, I is important to the customer and excelled in tennis and basketball found it very sterile. are only interested in at Central High and be- "It seems to me that the new- satisfying their own came a dentist. er restaurants are being de- egos by trying to outdo "I know that this in- signed without much thought to each other. More formation is factual. My the ambiance which makes it thought should be paid regards to Cooney. I more enjoyable and presents a to making the dining knew him well when we feeling of participating in the cul- experience one that is were kids. Also his ture that the restaurant repre- lasting and meaningful, brother Naudy. I do re- sents. without causing the member them having "To go to an Italian restau- customer to go broke DANNY RASKIN very beautiful sisters." rant, for example, and find that while eating in these LOC AL BIG ROCK Chop & there are very few Italians work- newer creations of the COLUM NIST Brew House on Eton ing there, no smell of Italian owners. Street in Birmingham food, no Italian music and a "We should learn from the ba- recently opened its doors to the modern-looking facility without sics of the past and return to public with a totally new look any representation of Italy or them in the development of the from that of the former Nor- anything Italian in its decor, newer eating experiences." man's Eton Street Station turns me off. MAIL DEPT. ... from Bob restaurant. "I recognize that some people Schwartz ... "The recent insert Also the cuisine of Chef Randy believe that all that counts is the in your column by Harold Smith, whose menu selections food, service and cleanliness of `Cooney' Finegood was extreme- — like Kansas City strip steak the restaurant, but if it lacks a ly interesting, but also had some and potato wrapped salmon — feeling of the culture that it rep- inaccuracies. are accompanied by soups that resents, it leaves me flat. "The Korn Restaurant was include Big Rock's microbrewed "I personally feel that it would not glatt kosher, but kosher beers ... The cream of mushroom be more enjoyable to walk in and style. The three schools from soup is made with Raymondo El hear Italian-speaking people, Tuxedo to Glynn Court ran in Rojo, its signature red ale. Italian music and Italian pre- this order, Central High, Roo- Brewmaster at Big Rock's sentation in the look of the sevelt Elementary and Durfee 1,950-square-foot brew house is restaurant as well as its food to Intermediate. Dean Jones, who bases his beers add to the enhancement of the "The Desert Gold Ice Cream on traditional techniques, but basic ingredients that go into Parlor was not across from Leo the names certainly aren't ... One making a restaurant a truly ex- LaFluer's Barber Shop. It was of the restaurant's four beers ceptional one. located on the east side of Lin- brewed on the site is Norm's "Owners who are open- ing new restaurants, par- ticularly ethnic ones, should in my opinion pay more attention to the at- mosphere and ambiance of the restaurant so that cus- tomers will have a greater appreciation, not only for the kind of food they are eating, but the feel of the place. Walking into a restaurant that is very con- temporary, and serves eth- nic food which is not indicative of the country it represents, does not add to the experience I'm looking for when I go out to dine. "Another area of concern to wood, between Richton and Raggedy Ass Ale, named after me in the newer restaurants is Monterey. He mentioned the Norman LePage, who owns the the outrageous prices being four Taub brothers but neglect- restaurant with wife Bonnie ... charged both at lunch and din- ed to mention that Sammy is the Raymondo El Rojo is derived ner. After being at one of the only survivor. from Norm's business partner, newer restaurants recently and "I also checked and Ted Bale Ray Nicholson. looking at the lunch menu and is not in the Veteran's Hospital. Besides hand-crafted beers, the prices, it turned me off from "Now unless there was an- Dean also adds family flavor to having any desire to go back to other Benny Weingarten (or the age-old ritual of brewing that restaurant for dinner. Weingartner) who was an ath- with a root beer recipe that has "Restaurant owners are los- lete in high school and later be- been passed down over three ing touch with reality because of came a dentist, he's also wrong generations.