plates Adventures In Dining Get through winter's waning days at these delicious dining destinations. BY LISA BRODY A new coffee spot to help ward off the chill is Bean & Leaf Cafe on Main Street in Rochester. Enjoy pastries and bagel breakfast sandwiches, with soups corn- ing soon. The restaurant's Royal Oak location, also on Main Street, offers two soups daily, deli sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, muffins, scones and vegan items. A few miles away, in Beverly Hills, a great new deli option, Detroit Deli, is located on Southfield Road between 13 and 14 Mile roads. You'll find 34 combo sandwiches, salads and soups, along with other deli mainstays (chopped liver ado Sunday Scrumptious The venerable Sunday brunch is making a delicious comeback. STORY BY ANNABEL COHEN I PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN Restaurant brunch, from the looks of so many eateries adding this course to their offerings, is getting to be a more popular concept — especially in an economy where food prices are rising and paychecks are dwindling. People who want to eat out are opting for the Sunday brunch because it's generally less expensive than other meals and tugs at our taste buds with sweet and savory flavors that promise to keep us sated throughout the day. Though there is no shortage of great plated breakfast places in town, a good buffet in the neighborhood isn't always easy to find. Most offer the same-old, same-old, often in sur- roundings that are as blab as the food. I was happy to discover Kruse and Muer in Troy a few months ago as another venue for Sunday brunch. Located at Crooks and Big Beaver, the newest of six Kruse and Muer eateries in our area serves lunch and dinner six days a week and brunch and dinner on Sundays. In surroundings B6 • MARCH 2009 • JN platinum designed by Ron Rae, complete with rich, dark woods and an appealing black-and-white motif, the restaurant features Sunday buffet stations located throughout. Note that Sunday brunch here won't have you loading up on bagels and lox. If you're looking for a Jewish deli-style breakfast, look elsewhere. General manager Mike Brady explains that a similar concept at the company's highly successful Lake Orion location inspired the Troy res- taurant, which began offering Sunday brunch nearly a year and a half ago. Instead of the typical fare, and beyond the standard omelet and beef carving stations, are numerous more gourmet choices, including hot chicken dishes, Parmesan and panko encrusted grou- per, decadent cheddar hash browns and signature pancakes and French toast (when I went, the French toast was "key lime," and the pancakes were "creme brulee"). Still other stations offer a variety of salads; plank-roasted or poached salmon; shrimp with cocktail sauce; grilled vege- tables; those famous "Charley-style" soft, warm poppy-seed rolls; and sweets. And beyond the chic surround- ings, summer patio eating, a cash bar (beginning at noon), white tablecloths and an all-you-can-eat meal, Sunday brunch at Kruse and Muer is afford- able: $17.95 for adults and $5.95 for kids under 12 (drinks are extra). When you think that anyplace you go sells omelets alone for about $9, this place is a relative bargain. Kruse & Muer On Wilshire 911 Wilshire Drive, Troy (248) 362-2700 Sunday Buffet Brunch: $17.95 adults $5.95 kids under 12 (drinks extra) Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays and potato latkes) in this carryout loca- tion. Northville's in the for- mer MacKinnon's restaurant on Main Street, serves modern American bistro fare, with a regularly changing menu of roasted chicken, fish, steaks and rack of lamb. Table 5 also features homemade desserts and an interesting and affordable wine selection. The bar serves a tapas menu and a happy hour meal each day. Over in Ann Arbor, Rick Halberg, a favorite area restaurateur, is back in the game. He has joined eve as partner/general manager. The restaurant, in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown at Fourth and Kingsley, is an eclec- tic gourmet's dream, with a creative menu and wine list. Halberg should mesh well with owner Eve Aronoff, a classically trained Cordon Bleu chef known for melding Indian, Moroccan, Mediterranean and other unusual fla- vors with French-inspired dishes. The Westin Book Cadillac's fourth restau- rant, 24,.-.0!e, has opened in Detroit, overlooking Michigan Avenue. It's cozy, casual and urbane, with such lunch and dinner items as truffle white cheddar mac and cheese, sweet potato brulee and steak and seafood entrees. Looking for a certifiably healthy place to eat? Head to Waterford's on W. Huron St. — one of only three certified green restaurants in Michigan. This new drive-through restaurant serves salads, sandwiches, burgers, soups, baked goods, breakfast wraps and vegetarian dishes.