Empty Tables

Detroit's JCCs have
kitchens, eating areas, but
no restaurant food service.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

StaIT Writer

nce again, patrons and staff of
the Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit find
themselves without a place to order a
sandwich or plan a business lunch.
But that's not for lack of trying and
is by no means meant to be perma-
nent. The repeatedly postponed open-
ing of the Milk and Honey Restaurant
in the West Bloomfield JCC and the
recent closings of the Soup Bowl Deli
in the Oak Park JCC and the InLine
Grill in West Bloomfield do not end
hope for providing eateries within the
buildings.
'An integral part of our mission is
that nothing is more important than
when people can say, 'Meet you at the
Center,'" says David Sorkin, JCC
executive director.
"We're trying to build reasons to say
that, from sports and fitness to the art
museum — to a place to eat.
"We are working closely with the
Vaad (Council of Orthodox Rabbis of
Greater Detroit/Vaad Harabonim in
Southfield, which monitors and certi-
fies kashrut adherence), and are active-
ly searching for a company or individ-
ual to take over where Soup Bowl Deli
and InLine Grill left off."

What Went Wrong

11/16
2001

18

32940 Middlebeit at 14
Road
248.855.1730 ton free 888.844.391

"I tried to give the best I could with
everything," says Meyer Cohen, owner
of Meyer S. Cohen Catering, who
owned both restaurants.
"But not enough people came in,"
he said. "At the Soup Bowl Deli, we
averaged 50-60 people a day. Some
came in from off the street, but it was
mostly staff and moms and kids from
classes."
For the four months before closing
in October, after being open slightly
more than a year, Cohen extended
hours from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at
the Oak Park JCC in hopes of gaining
customers, but was unsuccessful.
"The relationship between Meyer
and the Soup Bowl was_a trial one,"
Sorkin says. "Unfortunately, the traffic
was not sufficient enough for the
restaurant to be successful."
The InLine Grill, opened last May

