Cuisine to
Dine for

Renown Chef

Louai
x Sharkas

s,

invites

you to

experience

the taste

everyone is

talking

about.

Michigan's
finest upscale,
casual
American
bistro.

Now open

for lunch.

"Oakland Grill gets wows for
class act." — Observer & Eccentric

•

0'04
Aks : t

"Our meal at Oakland Grill was
exceptional and it left us talking
about our food all weekend long."
Oakland Press

Hours:

11:30

Mon-Wed

a.m. - 12:00 midnight

11:30

Thur-Fri

a.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Sat.

5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Please join us for happy hour,
Monday thru Friday, 4-7 p.m.

Domestic beers

$2.00

Imported beers

$2.50

Well drinks

$3.00

Available for private
engagements Saturday
afternoons and Sundays.

32832 Woodward Royal Oak

►

(Just South of 14 Mile Rd.)

(248) 549-7700

Reservations accepted.

Best Of Everything

The Mystery Muncher Predicts
Change In The Restaurant Game

IVIT

hile Danny Raskin is
lapping up the sun
cruising about, we'll be
his guest Mystery
Muncher this week, but not without
envy.
Did you say that you wanted to
own a restaurant? It's no piece of
cake. Ask the guy who owns one.
Some operations are winners and oth-
ers complete duds. That's because the
business covers such a wide spectrum
of factors.
And picking the right type of
restaurant is a gamble. But what isn't?
At the top of the ladder is the
gourmet dining spot. The true
gourmet restaurant is seldom found in
this country. Such establishments
emphasize exquisitely prepared,
sophisticated menu items usually
requiring highly skilled chefs who
have literally spent a lifetime in
apprenticeship and training.
Often these culinary artists are
trained in Europe, some starting at
the age of 12 and 13 and spending
another dozen or more years getting
to be real pros.
The next time you're dining at an
expensive "gourmet" dining room
catering to an exclusive clientele, ask
the manager where the
chef was born and where
he got hi.s smarts. That's
real class.
Most restaurants are in
the personality or charac-
ter category related to the
atmosphere of the place,
often referred to as the
ambience. This category
includes the so-called
"fine restaurant" featuring
the "French service" that
creates the ambience.
Owners proudly refer to
fine restaurants as
"gourmet restaurants,"
but they really aren't.
Other types of person-
ality or character restau-
rants have rustic or wood
paneled and leather inte-
riors with carpeted floors
built around Western,
English pub, early
American or similar themes. Another
group is the novelty restaurant with
special appeal built around a unique
scheme.
Commercial restaurants, instead of
emphasizing exquisite food, personali-
ty, character or atmosphere, primarily
emphasize modest prices and consis-
tency. Such eateries are generally

good, clean places with "meat and
As customers move up the eco-
potatoes" food.
nomic ladder, the hamburger they
Fast food restaurants are "filling sta-
used to pay very little for in a fast-
tions" which specialize in a very limit-
food chain is now served to them in
ed menu at inexpensive prices. They're
a pleasant atmosphere but at a premi-
in convenient locations, providing a
um price.
fast in and out.
The diners are paying for
The next step after deciding
service on china in a sit-
the type of operation you have
down restaurant. For some,
in mind, if you want to go into
the convenience decision
the highly competitive restaurant
leads to a meal in a moder-
business, is to figure out where
ately priced eating spot
to find your customers.
where you pay more but get
Generally speaking, we're in a
a better selection and more
time of impressive growth and
elaborate presentation.
significant change. Looking
D ANNY
The night out is another
ahead, we may expect personal
RA SKIN
reason patrons go to restau-
income and individual spending
rants. Family customers
Local
power to increase.
look for a bit more in the
Co lumnist
About two-thirds of the dis-
way of comfort, atmosphere
cretionary spending power will be in
and/or entertainment at a moderate
the age bracket from 35-65.
price.
The customer with spending power
In the upper income range, the
will tend to be a white-collar profes-
night out will move into the fine
sional or technical worker. The for-
restaurant.
tunes of the average family will
In today's weight-conscious society,
improve so much that they'll be
seafood is more and more becoming
spending more dollars on luxuries
the choice of diners out.
such as eating out.
An effective restaurant menu
The most obvious reason people eat should have a good selection of beef at
out is because they're employed in a
varying prices, fowl such as Long
location which makes lunching at
Island duckling, Rock Cornish game
hen and various chicken
dishes. Fish items may
include French fried
shrimp, shrimp De
Jonge, broiled white
fish, poached salmon,
swordfish steak and var-
ious types of filets.
Throw in veal parmi-
giana and spaghetti and
meat sauce for the kid-
dies and you have a
basic menu.
Appetizers should
include two kinds of
soup, one light and one
heavy, a chef's salad
with ingredients which
vary from night to
night, unique bread
items such as a dark
rye, muffins or hot bis-
cuits and original
desserts.
In choosing wines,
home impractical. Other reasons are
customers generally find that a house
convenience decisions, the need to eat
wine is easy to order. A good red wine
while traveling and situations when
and a good white wine should be
people don't want to bother cooking.
served, both of a caliber that satisfies
Some couples who say they'd rather
the connoisseur, yet isn't beyond the
eat eggs at home than get dressed and
capacity of the amateur.
go hunting for a restaurant are likely
Factors that contribute to the suc-
to be in for a high-cholesterol egg
cess of a restaurant operation, in order
diet.
of importance, are atmosphere, service

(