SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News

L

ast month, after Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach served a
Michigan audience morsels
from his non-traditional best-
seller Kosher Sex, he headed out for
morsels of kosher food at the non-tra-
ditional La Difference (accent on last
syllable) a gourmet restaurant in West
Bloomfield.
Instead of putting gefilte fish on his
plate, the author-rabbi discovered bar-
becued ahi tuna with a sauce of apple
curry and raspberry essence.
"The food tasted so good you would
have thought it was treif;" joked the
rabbi, who left behind a. clean platter.
"The rabbi is Orthodox, and he was
hungry," says La Difference owner Paul
Kohn, who has opened Jewish palates
to flavors from many other cultures in .
his kosher fine dining establishment.
"It was so nice to be able to accommo-
date him."
Open more than a year ago, La
Difference offers a menu to attract
people who do not adhere to Jewish
dietary laws as well as those who do.
Kohn has been expanding his dairy
menu and service options to hopefully
build a stronger customer base and
turn the operation into a profit-mak--
ing enterprise. The restaurant is now
helped along with earnings from
Kohn's core business, the Southfield-
based Quality Kosher Catering.

By The Numbers

While kosher fine dining hasn't thrived before in the Detroit Jewish community,
one restaurateur is striving to make a go of it with a non-traditional twist.

Although the rate of return is not writ-
ten in black ink yet — and well aware
of previous kosher restaurants that did-
n't survive the pressure of turning a
profit — Kohn nevertheless believes
there has been progress at La
Difference. And he's hoping to bolster
that with some new dishes and services
this summer. A new $16,000 point-of-
sale system has been installed to help
crunch the numbers.
"The numbers that are encouraging
show a difference between the first five
months of this year and the first five
months of last year," says Kohn. He
also is encouraged by La Difference's

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