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Arts & Entertainment

THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

Seventh Anniversary

A big date for Small Plates and downtown Detroit.

W

hen it opened, so many people
insisted that the totally new
dining concept might prob-
ably go over in markets like New York,
Chicago or Los Angeles, but was perhaps a
little too chic for Detroit.
This was seven years ago when Small
Plates opened its doors on Broadway,
between Witherell and John R in down-
town Detroit, across the street from the
Detroit Opera House.
Detroit is never given enough credit
for dining cleverness, but in the instance
of Small Plates, it proved that, presented
with the right style of menu at the proper
prices, a concept such as offered by Small
Plates indeed has a place among the many
years of pleasurable dining in the Detroit
area.
The Small Plates concept is the dream
development of community-ite Todd
Stern, son of local folks Aaron and
Rosalyn Stern, who in 1985 was working
in Spain and had the strong feeling that
tapas (Spain's appetizers) would translate
well to the American dining experience
while also covering China, Japan, Italy,
Greece and America, as well as Spain.
It is somewhat mind-boggling that the
large bevy of goodies prepared by Small
Plates could come from a tiny kitchen of
approximately 300 square feet (30x10) ...
But they do ... Dishes like grilled lamb
chops, sherry mushrooms, fish tacos, brick
oven pizzas, Greek and Italian sausages,
almond chicken, etc., to go with contin-
ued best-sellers like garlic shrimp, petite
tenderloin with gorgonzola cream sauce,
pan-seared scallops, almond chicken
with sticky rice, barbecued chicken,
sesame beef, lettuce wraps, etc. ... The big
favorite, hand-cut French fries, no longer

r

termed Freedom fries, are
made direct from fresh pota-
toes, not frozen or bagged, and
served with premises-made
ketchup, garlic aioli and malt
vinegar.
In the seven years, over
425,000 guests have dined
at Small Plates ... They con-
sumed over 100,000 pounds
of chicken, 50,000 pounds of
tenderloin beef, 63,000 pounds
of seafood, etc. ... this from
a small restaurant that seats
only around 75 in a total area of just 2,100
square feet.
The menu is structured in a way that
many dishes may be ordered in either
smaller or larger portions.
Todd has been around the restaurant
game a long time, cooking and manag-
ing Stage Deli in Oak Park, then owned
by Uncle Stan Snitz, opening Rattlesnake
Club with Jimmy Schmidt, and general
manager at Intermezzo and Big Daddy's
Parthenon.
Much of the former Eureka Vacuum
Building's original architecture can still
be seen, but for the most part the area
occupied by Small Plates is surrounded
by earth-tone colorings, wooden floor and
high ceiling in a very clean, intimate and
warm surrounding.
It is open six days: lunch and dinner,
Tuesday-Thursday, 11-10; Friday, 11-mid-
night; Saturday, noon-midnight; Sunday,
noon-8; with Mondays open only for pri-
vate events.
Todd has accomplished more than he
expected with his Small Plates restaurant
... It has received much credit for assist-
ing in no small measure to bringing back

part of downtown Detroit's
Broadway District ... Small
Plates was said to be the first
restaurant in several years
to open in the area ... When
opening in 2002, it gave an
emergence that might have
spurred other restaurateurs to
take a chance on downtown
Detroit and open new dining
operations ... "We proved that
people in the suburbs would
come downtown if there were
good restaurants:' says Todd.
There is no doubt that Small Plates has
played an important role in this end but,
more importantly, it has also proven that
given the right product, they will come
to good places like his dining "Field of
Dreams."
MAKING ROUNDS ... To Seldom
Blues, Renaissance Center, Detroit, for
seared sea bass ... To Assagi, W. Nine
Mile, Ferndale, for paella ... To Yotsuba,
Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, for
spicy tuna in rice wrap ... To Mosaic,
Monroe Street, Detroit, for New York strip
in Asagio cheese and wine sauce.
THEY REMEMBER ... "I had to pick
up Jimmy Durante and his sidekick Eddie
Jackson at Metro Airport. While driving
back, I looked into the rear mirror and
saw nothing but nose. Jimmy's was even
bigger than I thought! When we arrived
at the Elmwood Casino in Windsor, where
he and Jackson were appearing, he took
out a twenty dollar bill and said it was for
my time and effort:Besides you take dose
bumps just right!' He made me take it,
threatening to "tell Mrs. Kalabash, wher-
ever she is," but would have been shocked
to know where that twenty went.

"A week later I was in Rochester, Mich.,
to look over a couple of Western six
shooters that a guy was selling. One was
an old Colt 32.20 with a nicely engraved
leather holster that had been bought in
Montana in the 1930s by the very man
who designed the County Court House in
Northern Michigan where a noted trial
was held and written into a movie star-
ring Jimmy Stewart as the lawyer. When I
took the pistol home, the grips were loose
and before tightening them on the gun's
handle I noted the name `Kid' and E.D.
Wilson stamped on the holster's edge.
Jimmy Durante never knew it but he paid
for the gun I bought that was owned by
the notorious 1880s bank robber Kid
Wilson, who was eventually grabbed,
sent to the Brooklyn pen and pardoned
by President Teddy Roosevelt, who had
a soft spot for Western characters." ...
William Garwood.
[One-time local publicist here for show
business personalities appearing in this
area, Bill Garwood traded in his fedora for
a Stetson and is the author of numerous
award-winning cowboy and Western nov-
els that have received much acclaim both
here and abroad.]
CONGRATS ... To Harold Lang on his
birthday ... To Helen Lang on her birth-
day ... To Shirley Lloyd on her birthday
... To Dorothy Sonne on her birthday ...
To Betty Straus on her 80th birthday ... To
Ilene Rappoport on her 60th birthday. ❑

The JN is saddened to report that Danny's
wife, Frieda Raskin, passed away on Jan. 1. This

week's column was written well prior to her
death. Further information can be found in the
Obituary section, beginning on page 54. Danny's
e-mail address is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net .

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January 7 2010