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Meet ThP Beatos!
Uncle-nephew chef team gives Via Nove the true taste of Italy.
A
good chef is a wonderful attri-
bute for a restaurant to have in
attaining the sweet smell of suc-
cess gotten by seeing customers return ...
Having two marvels preparing a kitchen
parade of great dishes is an extra-large
bonus of which few restaurants can boast.
This is the highly acclaimed dining
drama unfolded daily at Via Nove, W. Nine
Mile, west of Woodward, Ferndale, which
opened in February 2005 and is celebrat-
ing its second anniversary.
Both chefs have the same name ...
Executive Chef Joe Beato Jr., and assistant
executive chef-adviser Joe Beato Sr., his
uncle ... Joe Jr., a graduate of Oakland
Community College's fine culinary pro-
gram, worked for his uncle Joe Sr. at the
former Il Centro on Lothrup in Detroit
and then helped run its kitchen.
Joe Sr. is an award-winning culinary
veteran whose record includes twice being
named Michigan Chefs de Cuisine's chef of
the year and managing the United States
Culinary Olympic Team that earned five
gold medals in Frankfort, Germany ... As
executive chef at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit for 22 years, he made his innova-
tions dining favorites of the Ford family
and the hospital's VIP patients.
Ownership of Via Nove is by the two Joes
as well as Vito Beato (Joe Jr:s father and Joe
Sr.'s brother) and Vito's hostess-wife, Pina.
Joe Jr.'s training in authentic Italian
cooking was largely enhanced with a visit
taken by brothers Joe Sr. and Vito to Cafe
Veneto in Rome to see its world-class
chef and tell of Joe Jr:s need to be more
involved in traditional foods of Italy ...
The younger Joe then went to Italy and
worked with the noted chef for almost a
Blo om 's
w--.vw.JewistiCatering.t:::‘m
VOTED #1 GEFILTE FISH
year at no pay, just to learn true
Italian cuisine.
As a result, Via Nove features
numerous Italian dishes that
are known only in Italy ...
Like its fine signature dish of
herbed risotto with tomato
and lobster sauce with grilled
prawns, sea scallops wrapped
with salmon, sauteed lobster
and veal medallion with wild
mushrooms, etc. ... And a
superb array of premises-
made pasta like grilled prawns and scal-
lops tossed with spinach, braised rapini
with fresh garlic, pasta stuffed with ricotta
and spinach, etc. ... Appetizers of lobster
and avocado and artichokes with radic-
chio and piave cheese, etc.
Via Nove may have become a fine
upscale Italian restaurant discovery at
reasonable prices, but specials are not
forgotten ... One of the most popular is
the prix-fixe menu that the Beatos pres-
ent during the week ... Appetizer, salad,
entree that changes daily (among filet,
veal, fish, lobster, etc.) and dessert, $32
... Every Tuesday, all beverages, including
wines, liquors, cocktails, etc., are half-off
... On Friday and Saturday, a big feature is
the double-cut veal chop.
Via Nove seats 194 on two levels and is
open for dinner only seven days, 5 to 2 ...
A warm weather feature is the lower dining
room floor-to-ceiling windows opening
into an outdoor patio to provide seating for
another 32 ... Dancing is every Saturday
evening in the upstairs nitery-like setup of
floor tables, another upper level of seating
and two private, romantic little rooms.
Via Nove's wine listings are excellent,
combining over 100 choices
with many available by glass
or bottle.
Give Lou Popper and son
Kenny Popper some rub-off of
the Via Nove success ... Their
Empire Packing supplies the
Beato kitchen magic duo with
their fine meat provisions.
Via Nove is more than just
another Italian restaurant in
a region that has so many ...
The combination of wonderful
food, elegance with informal overtones
and splendid service gives a thorough eve-
ning of culinary enjoyment.
THE LOCATION SOON may
become still another restaurant ... The
Orchard Lake Road and Pontiac Trail
building in Orchard Lake, seemingly a
restaurant in-and-out spot, may become a
Greek eatery to be called Santorini headed
by singing chef Theodore Mitropoulos,
former chef-owner of Chef Theodore,
some years ago in West Bloomfield ... He
is the brother of Birmingham celebrity tai-
lor Dino Mitropoulos, and it is expected to
be a complete Greek restaurant with all the
traditional foods anticipated from a good
Greek chef.
IT WAS A VERY popular Wednesday
night event when Chuck Muer had it
years back at the Pontchartrain Hotel in
Detroit ... Name band entertainment
headlined Chuck's weekly feature ... But
few were as good as Johnny Trudell, whose
18-piece orchestra plays the P'Jazz every
Tuesday evening in the Andiamo Celebrity
Showroom, next to Andiamo Italia restau-
rant, E. 14 Mile between Mound and Van
Dyke, Warren.
PASSOVER
DINNERS
•
•
•
•
•
COMPLETE DINNERS
A LA CARTE
PASSOVER CAKES & DESSERTS
PASSOVER CHOCOLATES
PASSOVER GIFT BASKETS, FRUITS
& TRAYS DELIVERED
LAST CHANCE
FOR PASSOVER
32418 Northwestern Hwy. • between Middlebelt & 14 Mile
248.855-9463
ACROSS TOWN AT Andiamo
West, Telegraph and Maple, Bloomfield
Township, no wonder the food is even bet-
ter than before ... The executive chef is
Joe Parrino, who came here after being the
highly-acclaimed head toque-wearer for
all the restaurants at Excalibur Casino in
Las Vegas.
MAIL DEPT. ... "I cringe when I
look at menus around the country. There
is only one way to make a Caesar salad;
otherwise it is not a Caesar salad and
shouldn't be called that. Any other way
is false. And those served with chicken
should be called Caesar salad with chick-
en, not chicken Caesar" ... Former chef
John Almand, Cleveland.
WISE WORDS DEPT. ... Give a
newly opened restaurant a chance to catch
its breath a bit before passing any judg-
ment ... Like the manuscript of a good
book, it is usually much better after being
edited and refined.
MAKING ROUNDS ... To Sweet
Georgia Brown for crab cakes ... To
Hong Hua, Farmington Hills, for shitake
mushrooms wrapped in bean curd ... To
Pasta Fagioli and Andiamo West, both in
Bloomfield Township, for linguine with in-
the-shell clams in red or white sauce ...
To Beau Jack, Bloomfield Township, and
Mr. Joe's, Southfield, for low-fat hamburg-
ers ... To Sposita's, West Bloomfield, for
cottage fried potatoes instead of mashed.
CONGRATS ... To Shelly Surowitz on
her 60th birthday ... To Harry Lenchner
on his 91st birthday ... To Charyl Apple
on her 50th birthday.
Danny's e-mail address is
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net .
Harvey Bloom
NOW SERVING
Complete
DINNERS
egt
Early Bird
SPECIALS
Mon-Sat 3-7 pm
I
Sun 3-5 pm
VINEYARDS
difiashet
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ro
Best Jewish Deli!
wwwJewishCatering.com
March 22 2007
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