STAR DE1611

IS ONE OF THE BEST CARRY OUT ONLY
RESTAURANTS IN AMERICA!

EVERYBODY
KNOWS WE HAVE THE
BEST HOMEMADE
TUNA IN TOWN!

French
Twist

OUR HOMEMADE
fAT-FREE TUNA
ALSO CANT'T
BE BEAT!

OPEN 7 DAYS
-SAT. 7 AM TO 10 PM
SUN.
7 AM TO 10 PM

TRY OUR
DELICIOUS HOMEMADE
VEGETARIAN
CHOPPED LIVER!

Sephardic songstress
Raquel Bitton
her calling in
paying tribute to her
idol, Edith Piaf:

OUR TRAYS CAN'T BE BEAT
FOR QUALITY & PRICE!

do, with a heart ripped asunder. It was
1982, and morose, Bitton moped
Special to the Jewish News
around the house and opened an old
box of her father's records. This woman,
"I fell in love for the first time.
who was nurtured on the Beatles and
"It was sad for me.
Cher, had an epiphany. Edith Piaf was
"It did not work out.
24555 W. 12 MILE
singing to her and to her alone.
Just west of Telegraph • Southfield
"I did not have much [understanding]
Piaf was born in the hallway of a
Paris apartment building in 1915. Her
about the outcome of a love
mother was a drug addict, who aban-
that doesn't work out.
doned her. Her father, a street per-
"I was so passionate about everything.
former, took her to his mother, Edith's
"1- was so young.
grandmother, who raised Edith in the
"He was older.
bordello she operated.
Piaf became a street singer, had a
'My parents were opposed."
child out of wedlock (and never recov-
ered from the child's death at age 6) and
f the above sounds like the lyrics
was
singing on the street when she was
of some heartbreaking Edith
FINE DINING RESTAURANTS
discovered
by the owner of a cabaret.
Piaf song, that's entirely appro-
Catering Services Provided For Your Special.Occasion Or Company Celebration.
He
booked
her immediately, gave her
priate. It is in fact the story of
Our Location Or Yours.
the name Piaf (sparrow in
how chanteuse Raquel
Raquel B itton: "[My French; Piaf was known as
Bitton, a Moroccan-born
Becky
passion) comes from
the "Little Sparrow") and
Jew, came to discover Piaf
my herita geasy
launched her career.
Lelli's of Auburn Hills • 248 373 4440
and ultimately become her
phardic girl
Jewish
Se
The singer may have
foremost interpreter.
up
listening
growing
been
involved peripherally
Andre
She's just released a new
to Ladin o songs."
in
the
murder of the man
CD, Raquel Bitton Sings Edith
Lelli's of Detroit • 313 871 1590
who
discovered
her. She
Productions
Piaf (Sparrow
Detroit Now Open Mondays
was frequently ill and had numerous
RB4271-2), which includes many of
operations, suffered from alcoholism,
Piaf's most famous songs, such as "La
morphine addiction, survived two
Vie en Rose." She's- served as adviser to
automobile
accidents — and yet
both PBS and NPR documentaries
MI IIIII•
became
the
highest-paid performer of
about Piaf's tragic life. And, at the
her
time.
Still
it was all for naught.
moment, she is telling her stories in
She
died
in
1963
when she was 47.
heavily accented Franglish on the tele-
Although life may have seemed trag-
phone
from
her
home
in
San
Francisco.
BUY 1 AT REGULAR PRICE, GET SECOND FREE, equal or less value
ic to Bitton in 1982, surviving a first
It all started, as so many great stories
Second dinner value up to $10 • Valid after 2 p.m. (no holidays) • No other coupons • Expires 2/29/00 1
true love is not on par with Piaf's trou-
Curt Schleier is a New Jersey-based
bles. Still, the more she studied Piaf's
freelance
writer.
life, the more she felt a kinship with
9
S
. CAPRARO

CURT SCHLEIER

I

of Auburn Hills & Detroit

-

-

-

-

..., ___ ... ... ... _ 4
, I FREE DINNER! I

I.

I

3

I

2/11 • 1477 John R. at Maple
2000
(S.W. Corner) • Troy

82

ITALIAN RESTAURANT

L NEN ... sow ow

(248) 588-6000

=I Imo um =I INE INNI

a

