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King Of The Hill

Grosse Pointe Farms restaurant is well worth the drive.

D

estination restaurants today are
lamb seasoned with cilantro,
and Irving Guttman, at Irving's
more in demand than ever ...
garlic and spices, and his cara-
Deli.
The economy has seen to that ...
melized diver scallops with
"I remember working for
When people are spending their dollars,
Belgian endive, frisee, Amish
my mom and dad since I was
they want dining experiences that can
gorgonzola, toasted walnuts
8 years old in Hamtramck on
become memorable ones.
and blood orange buerre blanc.
Saturdays and summer vaca-
Among those restaurant operations that
Elegant fare but along with
tions. When the family moved
are witnessing such favorable responses,
the fine classic American food,
to Southfield in 1974, I was at
one that may be off many beaten paths
if folks want just a sandwich,
Southfield High School and
but has proven to have the needed necessi- the Hill Restaurant has those,
worked after school and then
Danny Raskin
ties is the Hill Restaurant on Kercheval in
too ... Tenderloin slices with
Senior
Columnist regular daily hours cooking on
Grosse Pointe Farms.
melted bleu cheese, turkey
the line, doing the daily cater-
The old saw about doctors owning res-
burger with low-fat white ched-
ing and assisting Mom and
taurants so they can treat people eating
dar cheese, chargrilled Piedmontese burger
Dad in whatever ways I could.
there does not apply to Hill's general man-
or steak burger ... All include fries.
"Since moving here, my wife, Lori, and
ager, Gretchen Meeuws ... She is a gradu-
The Hill is open six days, Monday-
I have been to every deli within 30 miles
ate nurse, with her degree
, Thursday, 11-3 lunch, 5-10 in the Phoenix area. There are only two
from Wayne County
dinner; Friday, 11-3 lunch, that I would consider going to for differ-
Community College; but
5-11 dinner; Saturday,
ent reasons. I like Chompies/Scottsdale,
Gretchen's first love is the
dinner 5-11; Closed
a 30-year-old family-owned deli. Same
restaurant business with
Sunday.
menu as ours back in Southfield, but there
a fetish for good food and
Eastside folks in partic-
is rarely family at the location, unless
service ... She is a 25-year
ular have a certain admira- they are in the back. Food is plentiful and
veteran of the dining biz,
tion for the Hill Restaurant fresh. They were just on Drive - In Diners
beginning at the Hill as a
whose awards point to a
and Dives over cable TV. Whenever I go to
server and climbing the
remembered experience
a restaurant, I always want to speak to the
ladder to her present post
for its attendees ... The
owner and know that they are there.
as 0 general manager
same holds true for cuisine
"My deli preference here is Goldman's
0 • • • It
is her favorite way of treat-
lovers who don't mind the
in Scottsdale, owned by a husband, wife
Gretchen Meeuws
ing people.
ride because of looking
and son who cook good old-fashioned hot
Eecutive Chef Matthew
forward to much dining
meals everyday. Similar menu but much
Kouri assisted in opening the Hill and
satisfaction when they arrive.
more tasty. Feels warm and family when
returned in 2007 to prepare the dishes
MAIL DEPT. ... "Most of the delicates-
you walk in.
that have made it an award winner with its sen-restaurants here in Arizona don't have
"I have been asked many times to open
seafood and chops selections ... His most
the warm family feeling that I was used to
a deli in Arizona. It will not happen. But
popular is the light dining combination of back in the Detroit area. They are not hei-
Lori and I continue to scan the Arizona
petite Surf and Turf, three-ounce filet and
mish. The delicatessen menus are pretty
area for the taste and feeling of years back"
three-ounce lobster tail, and second is the
much the same.
... Jerry Guttman.
Hill of Perch with its presentation topping
"The corned beef, however, is supplied
[Jerry now owns Guttman Tax Advisors
of a tasty lemon caper cream sauce.
by Detroit's United Corned Beef and the Sy in Phoenix, Ariz.]
Other dishes include the lamb sliders,
Ginsberg Co., both owned by Sy, who used
REMEMBERING WHEN DEPT. ...
which Matt prepares from freshly ground
to work for my mother and father, Rose
Betty Stremich and her family were own-

FREE SOUP

Winter Warm-Up

'Free Homemade
Chicken Noodle
'Soup with Every
'Sandwich
IHOT HOT HOT!

Danny's e-mail is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net .

DELI DINNER
FEEDS 40

Your choice ot

• 1 lb. Hot Corned Beef,
Pastrami or Turkey Breas
•1 lb. Potato Salad or Slaw
• 1 lb. Hot Baked Rye
• Old & New Kosher Dills
• Russian Dressing

!

ers of Hillside Inn on Plymouth Road in
Plymouth, and the parking lot was lighted
with antique gaslight lamps collected from
junkyards around the country ... Nobody
ever found out why Pontchartrain Wine
Cellars on Lamed, Detroit, always closed
the first two weeks in July even with busi-
ness regularly very good ... Few meals
were complete without the luscious almond
rum cream pie that Herman Weber used to
serve at Weber's restaurant in Ann Arbor.
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT. ...
"If my girlfriend, Rosanne Levy, is cor-
rect, I'll buy her the big stuffed animal we
saw at Costco. She says that Kim Novak
is not Jewish. By the way, wasn't her ex-
boyfriend, Mac Krim, from Detroit? How
old was he?" ... Earl Marks
(Get her the stuffed animal, Earl, and
you'll also buy the tickets to see True Grit
... Kim Novak, 77, was born Marilyn
Pauline Novak to Czechoslovakian par-
ents. Yes, her onetime boyfriend Mac
Krim was from the Krim theater family in
Detroit ... Mac was 35 when he met her
at the Beverly Hills Country Club.)
CORRECTION DEPT. ... Retired den-
tal doc Roy Woolf and wife, Jackie, live in
Sarasota, Fla., not Boston ... their son Tod
resides there.
NICE TOUCH DEPT. ... Checking the
windshield for stone marks with no charge
to repair on the spot at Jax Kar Wash,
Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield.
CONGRATS ... To Shirley Iden on
her birthday ... To Dennis Frank on
his 70th birthday ... To Allan and Luba
Grundy on their 60th anniversary ... To
Mert and Helen Robbins on their 52nd
anniversary. I I

Detril_,

Detroit s es ova ox $15.99 lb.

248.855.9463
www.VineyardDeli.com

32418 Northwestern Hwy

between Middlebelt & 14 Mile

38

January 13 = 2011

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