Arts & Entertainment F THE *"\F EVER HIND Pepino's Wins Praise Longtime chef and popular menu keep throng of regulars pleased. W ith all the great compliments loin, almost 70,000 gallons of and rave reviews it keeps soup, etc. getting year after year, one Any change in its decor, would think that a restaurant like this can either outside or inside, would remain status quo and the business will hardly be acceptable since still come in. Pepino's has retained a rather Not so with operations like Pepino's on quaint, very clean environ- Walled Lake Road and Pontiac Trail in ment of total relaxation and Walled Lake. informality ... These are April 24 makes it 26 years since the priceless entities that have day that Pepino's opened and very fine, done much to bring Pepino's extremely likeable host- its usual accep- ess-manager sisters Kathy tance of casual Kwiecinski and Carol comfort. Carson, constantly search Although the food items for ways to continually rarely change, the daily please their large customer specials are continually base ... Like adding new tweaked to much satisfac- food items for Chef Keith tion by many who also Couch and his kitchen assis- Carol Ca rson and enjoy specialty items like tants to prepare each week. Kathy Kwiecinski roasted Black Angus prime Although the everyday rib, braised short ribs, menu of favorites are supplemented regu- grilled yellow-fin tuna, beef brisket, etc. larly with daily specials, Kathy, Carol and And this year will be only the second Keith are careful not to stray too far away since Pepino's new attached patio that from their menu regulars ... "Seems that opens in May was built, seating 35 ... whenever we try to vary some standard Pepino's is open for dinner six days, item," says Kathy, "it usually meets with Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9; Friday and protests from our regular customers, so Saturday, 5-10; Sunday, 4-8 ... Seating is we've learned to keep our original menu in three rooms totaling 112, and a long and offer things as daily specials instead." bar behind which Rick Sinkevics follows As a result, the 26 years have accumu- Ray Kwiecinski, Kathy's hubby, in pouring lated counts of almost 2 million customers those oversized drinks, has 18 stools. enjoying about 110,000 pounds of those Few places can boast of a more effi- delicious complimentary marinated navy ciently capable and pleasant staff of wait beans and untold amounts of garlic toast, persons ... One of the gals, Judie Van both given to folks before dinner ... More Assche, has been with Pepino's since it than 220,000 pounds of big seller pan- opened ... and four are not too far behind fried rainbow trout, about 110,000 pounds in their tenure ... Gina Ahrens, Laura of chicken breasts, over 105,000 pounds of Willemsen, Bonnie Hill and Beth Bishop lamb, around 110,000 pounds of tender- ... In the kitchen, executive chef Keith • Free • Free dessert tray of Coffee cake and Seven Layer cake. and Fresh Fruit With minimum of 10 or more people. Bagel & LoxFor 4 $15 Includes • I/2 LB Nova Lox • Whipped crime cheese • Sliced tomatoes and onions • 4 N.Y. Bagels Couch has been with Pepino's since it opened and assistant Carl Soblo 22 years. Not too many restaurants can compare to Pepino's in terms of value received ... enjoying a restaurant's food with complete all-around ful- fillment can have few matches, and this very prized feeling is the essence of two extremely important words in the vocab- ularies of Kathy and Carole ... absolute satisfaction. DANDY DINING DEAL Dept. ... Hard to believe but quite true ... $5 for any- thing except its steaks on the menu all day Mondays, with purchase of a beverage (coffee, tea, pop, etc.) ... Entrees are even served with soup or salad, potato and vegetable ... For example, grilled salmon, regular $11.99, is $5 on the menu ... No change on any item in quality or por- tion size ... It's at Grand Tavern owned by George Lukaj (of George's Honey Tree, West Bloomfield) and operated by his son, Anton, on Drake and Grand River (next to Busch Market), Farmington Hills ... Sounds like something that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt might have come up with back during the Great Depression of 1933. QUESTION & ANSWER Dept. ... "Do you know who owned the house many years back where Cuisine restaurant is now located?" ... Sylvia Markos. [No, but the house on Lothrup in Detroit's New Center area you refer to was originally used as a private bridge club during prohibition days before Charlie Fisher took it over as a restaurant in 1934 and named it Fisher's 6661 DATE OF THE W.J. & Lillian Kemler Walk of Ages by Jewish Senior Life Auxiliary, is Sunday, May 23, at the Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus on Drake, West Bloomfield ... Local fine photographer Bob Benyas will be this year's grand marshal, and wonder- ful writer George Cantor will be honor- ary chairperson ... Glad to have them on board ... The kids will have fun, too, with the train rides, petting zoo, carnival games, face painting, etc ... And dogs have a happy-go-lucky tail-wagging time walking the 3K or 5K routes. IT'S SCARY JUST hearing about it, and when hitting this close to home the fright takes on monster proportions ... Like the recent one I received with Jennie Cascio, local executive director of Variety, the Children's Charity, supposedly stranded in Malaysia where she was said to be attend- ing a program called "Empowering Youth To Fight Racism" ... According to the scam, Jennie supposedly tells each person on her contact list that she needs a soft loan of $3,400 or any part of it, to pay her hotel bill, where all Jennie's valuables are kept ... The e-mail is supposedly from her at a fictitious "Variety Charity" ... Jennie has sent e-mails to her list inform- ing them that it is definitely a hacker scam and not a plea from her. CONGRATS ... To Allan Kominars on his 70th birthday ... To Sheldon and Peggy Sandler on their 45th anniversary ... To Jordan and Fern Kahn on their 55th anniversary. ❑ Danny's e-mail address is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net. - _ Includes 1 LB or corned beef or turkey 1 LB slaw or potato salad 1 LB Jewish Rye - Old and new kosher dills - Russian dressing 32418 Northwestern Hwy. • between Middlebelt & 14 Mile • 248.855-9463 • www.JewishCatering.com 50 April 22 • 2010