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In tribute to his mother,
Michael Kuchersky
serves authentic tastes of home.

ANNABEL COHEN

Special to the Jewish News

A

West Bloomfield restaurant is dishing up tastes nostalgic
to many in the Detroit Jewish community
The eatery is called simply the Fiddler and serves fare
which can only be described as authentic. That's because
owner Michael Kuchersky knows first hand what's what.
A native of Moscow, Kuchersky and his family — wife Maya
and son Daniel — came to the United States 20-plus years ago
with the help of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Their son Roman was born in the United States.
His Russian training and work experience were in restaurant
management (he worked at a popular spot called Lira in
Moscow that eventually became the first McDonald's in Russia).
But, when he arrived in Detroit, he worked first at a restaurant
equipment repair company
A string of non-food related jobs including factory work and
house painting followed until Kuchersky and a friend finally saved
up enough money to buy Kelly's Hamburgers in Hazel Park, a
White Castle-style burger joint.
After a couple of years he and his brother-in-law traded up
and bought a Howard Johnson's franchise and in 1983 they
purchased a Waffle House on Northwestern Highway and Beck
Road in Southfield (what is now their Sunrise Cafe). Kuchersky
now owns three of the restaurants.
Kuchersky had a dream to own a Jewish-style restaurant that
served the food he knew growing up. It was realized nearly a

year ago when he opened the Fiddler with partner and restau-
rant manager Natan Slogub. Now the restaurant, already
expanding into an adjacent storefront on Orchard Lake Road
just south of Maple, serves the stuffed cabbage rolls and seared
ground chicken patties, called pozharsky, that Kuchersky grew
up eating in Russia. "My mother died last year and I wanted to
preserve her recipes and add some new ones to her repertoire,"
said Kuchersky.
What, exactly, is the cuisine of Russia? It's not just potatoes
and cabbage, surely.
Last year, I went to Russia and spent a week in St. Petersburg
and Moscow, eating mostly unimaginative food at tourist hotels
and restaurants. And I ate exactly what many Americans think of as
typical Russian foods.
The meals usually began with a potato or other salad made
often with cucumbers and tomato. Then came a beet-, potato-
or cabbage-based soup, a small piece of roasted chicken, roasted
potatoes or steamed carrots and ice cream for dessert.
It was only when our tour group had free time that I finally
broke away and got a small taste of the culinary capabilities of this
vast and troubled land. At fine Russian and European-style restau-
rants I sampled wonderful salads with fish and light dressing, deli-
cate stews and roasted meats. And, of course, fresh caviar and blini,
the small, yeast-raised pancakes, usually made with buckwheat
flour, which serve as a bed for caviar.
I also realized that while Russian "everyday" food is often limit-
ed by the unavailability of many fresh ingredients, the cuisine is
varied, influenced by the country's melting pot of ethnicities.

11/1

1999