The Best Of Everything STYUS Thurs. & Fri. Sept. Fri. & Sat. Oct. 18 & 19 elebrity Showrooin 096 East Fourteen Mile Road 6/21 2002 84 (Between Mound & Van Dyke) . (586) 268-3200 40 4111411 4011 00 II 41Ik Diner Phenom In West Bloomfield as in Oak Park, little Giorgio's scores with gourmet dishes at regular prices. is a phenomenal success story in the restau- It is bigger than the Oak Park spot ... with seat- rant business and worthy of being told over ing for about 50 at the new Giorgio's Gourmet and over again ... about a simple little diner Diner in Sugar Tree Plaza on Orchard Lake Road, that turned into a culinary happening of north of 15 Mile. much note. Steak Diane in burgundy wine sauce with mush- The story began in 1981 when George rooms, onion and garlic ($13.95), Steak au Poivre Golematis bought the little Spiro's Coney Island with Burgundy wine sauce, fresh ground pepper chut- restaurant on the corner of Lincoln and ney, Dijon mustard and flamed with cognac ($13.95), Greenfield in Oak Park. Beef Carpetbag cooked with Bordelaise sauce and DAN NY Imagine the surprise to see George, former flamed with Wild Turkey ($13.95), 14-ounce New maitre d' pride of upscale Benchmark restaurant at RAS KIN York sirloin cooked with crushed black peppercorns the Michigan Inn, behind the counter and even Local Columnist and Bordelaise sauce, flamed with brandy ($14.95), more a shocker to discover that he was the owner. Shrimp Scampi sauteed in lemon butter, garlic and Being short on cash, all he could do was buy a lit- dry vermouth and served over rice ($13.95), Cherries tle Coney Island restaurant that could barely make ends meet. Jubilee flamed with Kirsch cherry liqueur poured over ice Then came the windfall idea. Why not try doing what cream ($4.95), flambeed Bananas Foster ($5.50) and so much George knows best? Change the name to Giorgio's and more ... at astoundingly low prices. make gourmet dishes including the flaming favorites he did Flaming is now confined to the open stove area behind tableside at the Benchmark? the counter but flames continue to flick happy twinkles. And so was born the highly successful Giorgio's Counterside The best seller at Giorgio's Gourmet Diner in West Diner ... with little stoves on the long counter ... a couple of Bloomfield is the excellent fresh Lake Superior whitefish booths ... and other seating for a whopping 34 people. ...12 to 14 ounces grilled and served with lemon butter, Word soon got around that you could get gourmet dishes garlic and dry vermouth sauce ($12.50) ... or it may be at prices folks paid for regular fare. ordered dry, with no garlic and only lemon or oil used ... It wasn't long before lines began forming around the corner. It is nothing for George to go through 700 pounds of Later, a customer suggested that George move... his little whitefish in a week. restaurant had gotten too small ... So he sold it to his Also the superb Ruby Red trout which, George remem- cousin Peter Kotsogiannis, who couldn't use the same name so changed it to Peter's K ... keeping the identical concept and reputation. George moved his Giorgio's to the former Tweeney's locale in Birmingham ... with its much larger capacity seating, elegant atmosphere and big overhead ... All of which he needed like the proverbial hole in a head. But the charm wasn't there ... and prices had to be hiked higher in what was now a large full-scale restaurant ... no longer a little diner. Giorgio's closed ... and Peter's K flourished. Then came the unbelievable ... As fate would have it, Peter wanted to move back to New York and open a small Italian restaurant. He asked George's brother Bill, who worked for Peter, and now operates the Oak Park restaurant, if George would like to buy the place back. George Golematis now owns two Giorgio's diners. Would he? ... And how! ... with no more drastic changes ever again from his little diner successful concept. A short while ago, George finally realized another big bers having to take when he ran out of whitefish in Oak ambition ... To open a second operation exactly like the Park and this was as close as the fish vendor could come at one in Oak Park in West Bloomfield. the time ... It is a wonderful piece of fish, 12 to -14 ounces Same menu ... Same prices ... Same counter ... but prepared the same as the whitefish ($13.50) ... 350 pounds more booths. cooked weekly is normal. His second dream happened Feb. 8, 2002 ... when Georgio's is also noted for its separate pasta menu, which George finally opened what seemed like what the world has gained much favor because of the variety and low prices. was waiting for ... In the first week, over 4,000 people Since opening, over 300 orders of Spaghetti Bolognese packed in ... without the Giorgio's sign even up yet. ($9.95) a week are filled in an 11-item choice of pasta dishes Getting in was sometimes a problem for some ... but that also includes Spaghetti Salmone ($12.50) with fresh salmon found to be very much worth the short wait ... as so many cooked in a tomato and optional cream sauce ... Penne Scampi have since discovered. with fresh broccoli and garlic all sauteed in olive oil ($12.95) ...