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No Right To Sing The Blues
In only three years, Seldom Blues restaurant
hits a high note of national acclaim.
HANDBAGS
SHOES
E
THE
SALE
TENDER
271 WEST MAPLE
DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM
248.258.0212
SUNDAY 12-5
MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6
THURSDAY 9
1272870
42 July 5 • 2007
ating one's words never has
too good a taste ... Three
years ago, those who said that
downtown Detroit had problems to
solve were correct ... That a restaurant
such as this would have a tough rime
making it ... And if it did, the restau-
rant's life would be a short one.
These people obviously didn't reckon
with the persistent determination and
staying power of Frank Taylor, CEO
and president of Seldom Blues Jazz
Restaurant and Supper Club in the GM
Renaissance Center ... With his part-
ners, Robert Porcher, Jerry Nottage and
Alexander Zonjic, he has not only built
Seldom Blues into an excellent dining
and rhythms music restaurant, but also
a superior Metro Detroit representative
on the national scene.
Seldom Blues might be the only pre-
mier jazz restaurant and supper club in
the country like it ... New York, Chicago
and Los Angeles may have similar
operations, but none that encompasses
four Seldom Blues attributes ... Great
food, great service, great music and an
outstanding scenic view ... one that
elegantly overlooks Detroit and Windsor
skylines against shimmering waters of
the Detroit River.
Because of the restaurant's recognition
by the national media, many people vis-
iting Metro Detroit rarely leave without
looking up Seldom Blues ... And you
never know who could be at the next
table, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin,
Sidney Portier, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc.
... Stevie Wonder as a guest entertaining
at the piano.
Since opening in June 2004, Seldom
Blues' uncanny consistency has resulted
in nearly 1 million people passing
through its doors ... Constant good-
ness of three-year best sellers like
Frank's Lobster Pontchartrain duet of
tails baked and finished with a shrimp
and jumbo crab; Porcher's Bone-On
Rib-Eye Steak; AZ's Salmon, Blue-B-Q
Sea Bass (more than 120,000 pounds
served), double-cut lamb rack, choice
steaks (more than 300,000 pounds,) etc.
... Hardly numbers of a restaurant not
making it! ... Best sellers, too, like lob-
ster and jumbo crab cakes, available as
appetizer or entree, short ribs, etc.
Also, it is estimated that more than
half of those dining at Seldom
Blues order its signature
Rhythm & Blues Chocolate
Cake and Bread Pudding.
As a seven-day-a-week
lunch and dinner restaurant,
it is open Monday-Friday,
11:30-4, lunch; Monday-
Thursday, 4-10 dinner; Friday,
4-Midnight dinner; Saturday,
5-midnight dinner; Sunday,
11:30-4:30 brunch.
Dining room seating is 350,
with 20 bar stools ... Among the areas
added with more intimacy is a private
room for 10 with a scenic view that used
to be Frank's office until the restaurant's
popularity usurped the space.
On any day or evening, the entire
Seldom Blues restaurant is available
for complete takeover of events like bar
and bar mitzvah receptions, weddings,
etc. ... The first bar mitzvah recep-
tion in Seldom Blues' initial year was
for Brandon Epstein, with parents Joan
and Bob Epstein acquiring the entire
restaurant for their 300 guests ... SinCe
then, Seldom Blues has done 10 more
b'nai mitzvah receptions ... It also has
a beautiful private glassed-in room for
up to 50 ... Frank is well-versed in bar
and bar mitzvah receptions ... As food
and beverage director at the Pontiac
Marriott, he was responsible for quite a
number of successful such events.
Where did the name Seldom Blues
come from, so many people still ask
... Frank was at one time a partner
in a North Carolina restaurant named
Seldom Blues and retained a dream to
one day open another in Detroit ... A
jazz restaurant that plays some blues
but mostly jazz ... Certainly a place,
too, where customers are seldom, if
ever, blue.
The one-time three-page menu at
Seldom Blues is no more ... It has been
scaled down to a highly streamlined one
page, along with a separate one-folio
listing of choice wines by the glass or
bottle ... But items like the excellent
red trout, on the lunch menu, are among
many that can also be gotten for dinner.
What sartorially elegant Frank Taylor
and his partners have produced in the
three years of Seldom Blues is some-
thing that other restaurant owners in
other cities would love to
have ... That Detroit and
its suburbs are blessed
with a solid award-win-
ning dining and music
operation that is often
associated with this
locale's fine sports teams
and automotive industry
in capturing national
note, is indeed very high
acknowledgment.
THE FINE Ribollita
Tuscan vegetable soup that Rick Halberg
used to make and serve at his former
R.I.K's and Tutte Benne restaurants
is now being sold ($5.99) at Hiller's
Markets on Orchard Lake Road, West
Bloomfield, and on 14 Mile, Commerce
Township ... Rick is Hiller's director of
culinary services and is also beginning
a catering service there for intimate
home dinner parties.
JAZZ SONGSTRESS and recording
artist Kathy Kosins, daughter of Marilyn
and the late Harry Kosins, will perform
with her pianist at Cuisine Restaurant's
"Champagne and Jazz" night, Friday,
July 6 ... Cuisine is on Lothrop in
Detroit, north of Grand Boulevard and
the Fisher Building.
MAIL DEPT. ... "We recently attend-
ed the Kovan Variety Club fundraiser
at Tam O'Shanter Country Club and
were very proud of our granddaughter,
7-year-old Sidrah Kovan. On her own,
she decided to bead bracelets and sell
them at the event. Dear Sidrah sold all
50 bracelets she beaded and raised $770
on her own so that other children would
benefit" ... Marlene and Ed Malkin.
[Young Sidrah is the daughter of Eric
and Cane Kovan ... He is chairman of
the annual event held in memory of
Eric's brother, Brad.]
CONGRATS ... To Toni Perkins on
her birthday ... To Suzie Weinstock
on her birthday ... To Dr. Abraham
Babaoff on his birthday ... To Rose
Cooper on her 80th birthday ... To Earl
Davidson on his 99th birthday ... To
Herb and Fay Eidelman on their 55th
anniversary ... To Arthur Plotkin on
his 80th birthday.
Danny's e-mail address is
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.