Arts Life

The Best Of Everything

A Deli Delight

Southfield's Gateway Deli brings new decor and gourmet menu.

and four of them, Marsala,
on't even try to
cutlet Milanese or
imagine a Jewish
Parmigiana, Siciliano and
delicatessen that
Piccante, are all $10.95 ...
serves various
Two others, Tosca and
types of veal dishes ... let
Colombo, are $11.95.
alone the very fine Provimi
Plenty of pasta entrees too
veal ... at prices much much
... nine of them.
lower than the norm ...
Big sellers are the 10-12-
DANNY
Hardly believable.
ounce broiled whitefish,
RASKIN
And to top this off, this
$10.95, shrimp scampi,
deli even has a separate
Local Columnist $11.95, and most of the 10
menu for all its gourmet-
chicken dishes, seven at
style entree items ... at prices
$9.95 and three at $10.95.
to make one squint.
When Gateway was reopened in
This is Gateway Delicatessen ... 11
1994, after being purchased from
Mile, just east of Lahser, in the
Lenny Fidler, it became a double-
Harvard Row Mall, Southfield ...
headed type of operation ... with reg-
owned again by Peter Bershaj.
ular deli fare and traditional Jewish
The delicatessen menu includes all
dishes along with some gourmet-style
the traditional items you have come
items prepared by Peter himself.
to expect from a true-blue Jewish deli
But nothing like it is today ... with
... and then some ... ranging from
24 salads to homemade sweet-and-
sour cabbage, knishes, latkes,
blintzes, chicken soup, etc.
And to further complicate the
senses, it even serves a homemade
meatloaf sandwich among the sin-
gle and triple deckers.
For breakfast, lunch or dinner,
Bershaj does most of the cooking ...
plus serving as the smiling and per-
sonable host.
Then there's his Gateway
Gourmet menu ... with items that
Peter has always had a desire to
serve ... His training was steeped in
upscale preparation as well as deli-
catessen ... and he has never for-
gotten it.
Try picturing and getting a nine-
Peter Bershaj
ounce filet mignon bourguignon
(burgundy wine sauce) for $11.95
... including soup and salad ... In
all the upscale cuisine at such low
fact, all the dinners on Peter's sepa-
prices.
rate gourmet menu come with soup
Peter had been a chef at the origi-
and salad.
nal Larco's fine dining spot on
Beef Stefanelli, prime tenderloin,
McNichols and San Juan ... and inso-
mushrooms, red wine,. vinegar, scal-
far as delicatessen food is concerned,
lions, sauteed in a sherry wine tomato he formerly owned a Jewish deli-
sauce, $10.95 ... 12-ounce prime sir-
catessen in West Bloomfield and
loin steak, $11.95.
managed one in New York.
Highest priced entree is the land
After leaving for awhile, his brother
and sea ... 30-ounce steak and
Vinnie, his manager, taking over with
shrimp, sauteed with sherry wine,
another partner, Peter has done a
$12.95.
striking number on the decor
There are six Provimi veal entrees
changeover too.
on the Gourmet Menu at Gateway ...
It was closed for 17 days ... to open

D

iN

12/19
2003

84

again with contemporary-style fur-
nishings, porcelain tile throughout,
recessed lighting, new booths,
changed color scheme, cherry wood
moldings, etc. ... Seating capacity was
enlarged from 86 to 97.
Open six days, Monday to
Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed
Sunday ... It has also become some-
what of a gathering place for many ...
who enjoy the informal atmosphere
that goes along with the good food
and clean atmosphere.
Gateway Delicatessen may not be
the kind of higher-style restaurant
that one would envision ... no linen
napkins or linen tablecloths or ele-
gant oil paintings and lavishly-styled
carpeting ... but as a neighborhood
delicatessen, folks could hardly ask
for more.
RUMOR DEPT, ... Couldn't be
any further from the truth ... If
you've heard it ... don't believe a word
Pepino's in Walled Lake is positive-
ly not up for sale!
WHERE THEY ARE Dept. ...
Milt Tyner, former owner with wife
Phyllis of Checker Bar-B-Q on
Livernois ... still has his hand in the
food game ... as meat department
head for Hazel Park Raceway's four
restaurants ... Joseph Calemme, one-
time super maitre d' at the
Benchmark Restaurant and River
Bistro ... may be retired but is still
available for dining operation consul-
tation.
QUESTION DEPT. ... Why are
barbecued baby beef ribs so difficult
to find hereabouts? ... The beef ribs
at E.G. Nick's in West Bloomfield are
delicious ... but too difficult and
sloppy to pick up and chaw.
If you know where barbecued baby
beef ribs can be gotten, please let us
know ... Or if you have a home
recipe for them, send that to us, also
... with your name and phone num-
ber.

NOT MANY DELICATESSENS

make chicken pot pie anymore ... and
if they do, he says, it is many times
premade.
This is one of the things Chef Lee
Sharkas wants to be homemade ... at
the new Corned Beef & Mustard
Deli opened with working partner
Rick Mond ... on Maple and

Coolidge in Troy.
Lee is executive chef at Andiamo
West, Telegraph just south of Maple
Road ... where he will definitely
remain ... as one of Oakland County's
more accomplished chefs.
He has been with Joe Vicari, owner
of the Andiamo Italia restaurants, 12
years ... six of them at Joe's flagship
on 14 Mile Road in Warren .-.. and
six years at Andiamo West; which Lee
opened with Joe's managing partner
there, Jerry Vitale.
Lee is at the deli about three times
a week ... making the chicken soup,
chicken pot pie, which he says is
unlike others, and more.
Lee is also concocting new ways of
food preparation ... Like the cole slaw
that he makes ... The Somerset Slaw
is prepared with raspberry vinaigrette,
Gorgonzola cheese and toasted
almonds ... Another cole slaw is with
three different mustards and red cab-
bage ... A standard one remains .. but
still has its own tastiness.
Service at present is like that at
Plaza Deli in Southfield ... where you
get your food at a counter and seat
yourself ... The new delicatessen by
Lee Sharkas and Rick Mond seats 60.
Where did the name Corned Beef
& Mustard come from? ... Lee's
mother-in-law, Barbara Mendelson, is
responsible for the title... "Kind of
cute, don't you think?" says his wife,
Marci.
Among the many thrilled by the
opening of a Jewish delicatessen in
Troy is Lisa Hailing ... "Since leaving
the West Bloomfield area I have
found no good delis around," says
Lisa. "With Andiamo being my
favorite restaurant of all time, I
thought the news about Corned Beef
& Mustard opening by its executive
chef was absolutely exciting!"
REUNION DEPT. ... Winship
Elementary and Junior High of
Detroit togetherness biggie will be for
classes from 1960 through 1966 ...
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004 ... in the
Grand Ballroom of Northfield Hilton
in Troy ... For more info, contact
Shirley (Katz) Kaplan, '62, (248)
557-6532 ... Fax: (248) 557-6973 ...
or email: shooles@ameritech.net .
EXERCISE TIP ... From fitness
expert Jim Berk ... "Stretching is one
of the best things you can do — it
helps elongate the muscles, eliminates
some lactic acid from the body [lactic
acid leads to soreness] and makes you
more flexible. But stretching can be
harmful if not done properly.
"My recommendation is not to
stretch a cold body. "Think of your