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Masterful Dining

Thirty chefs wow the crowd at Henry Ford Hospital benefit.

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OTPOURRI
The amazing array of talented
chefs at the recent Dining with
the Masters can be mighty proud of
themselves ... raising a record $188,000
to benefit the Henry Ford Health System's
Transplant Institute.
Thirty top local chefs donated their
time, talent and goodies for a whopping
361 attendees who filled the tables of 12
people, a11 30 cooking and serving four-
course meals prepared on their portable
stoves.
Each year, tables present another dif-
ficult challenge when one wins the "Best
Table Decor" award ... This year, it was
Executive Chef Marc Djozila of MGM
Grand Hotel in Detroit's Wolfgang Puck
restaurant ... Second place went to
Executive Chef Christian Border of 24 Grill
at the Westin Book Cadillac.
Luciano Del Signore, owner/chef of
Bacco Ristorante in Southfield, was a guest
but still got into the act, donating dinner
for eight at his home with wife, Monica ...
Winner with the highest bid were Bacco
customers Richard and Pam Nodel.
Big hand goes to the chefs ... and
the chairs for the magnificent event,
Suzanne Gilson, Peggy Goldberg and Mary
Aboulijard ... Next year's Dining with
the Masters is expected to be even big-
ger as Suzanne and the others look not to
conflict with the fourth annual wonderful
happening on the same night as another
fine event.
ONE OF THE BEDROOMS in the
lavish mansion-like home was a most
unlikely place for a Motown-style song-
fest to happen ... Especially when the
16,000-square-foot home overlooking the
shimmering waters of Walnut Lake also
contained a glamorous mini-night club
like those of the Prohibition days, com-
plete with long bar, tables, chairs, booths,
dance floor, bandstand, kitchen, etc.

Those who earlier had left
Morris Margulies' Fourth of
July party, Clive Cantor, Dr. Mike
Sherbin, Harvey Singer, Dr.
Andy Bonin, etc., missed out on
what turned into a big feature
of the evening ... The 12 or so
that remained were treated to a
swinging good time as Martha
Reeves, formerly of Martha and
the Vandellas, and her brother
Benny Reeves, formerly of the
Contours, took turns singing
until the wee hours of the morning.
The bedroom recording studio of
Morris' son Adam had Rhonda Ginsburg
and Gayle Gellis joining Morris and guests
dancing up a storm in unison to Martha
and Benny's rhythmic offerings ... Only
one that slept through the jumping and
jive was Adam's dog Lucy, who couldn't
care less.
Enough food was left over to feed a few
more of Morris' parties ... with plans
already afoot for one in his Comfort Club
downstairs.
READER MINI-REVIEW ... By Jerry
Silecchia . "I took my wife, daughter and
son-in-law to Ocean Breeze restaurant on
Van Dyke and 23 Mile, Shelby Township,
and was totally satisfied. It was a great
find for wholesome food at most reason-
able prices. I had an Italian frittata of four
scrambled eggs with pieces of freshly
chopped peppermint leaves and parme-
san cheese cooking in olive oil that made
a delicious thick omelet. My wife and
daughter had pancakes and French toast
and my son-in-law enjoyed his eggs over
easy. As we left, one of the patrons told us
we should try the fish and chips for some-
thing out of this world."
GOOD WAITPERSON DEPT. ... Lana
Shor, 16 years at Sunrise Cafe, Orchard
Lake Road, Farmington Hills, a big favorite
of so many because of her efficient, con-

genial and smiling ways ...
The kind of server customers
enjoy having wait on them.
CLARIFICATION ... An
addendum to last week's
item about "Cardiovascular
Specialists PC" ... To be
precise, Beaumont Hospitals
did not acquire the corporate
entity ... Drs. Lary Goldman
and Lynn Miller are moving
their practice to a nearby
location as "Goldman and
Miller Cardiology PC" ... The other doc-
tors, Alan Silverman, Mark Goldberg, Allan
Chernick, Melissa Stevens and Demetris
Demetriou, will remain at the current
Farmington Hills office and practice as
"Beaumont Cardiovascular Specialists."
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT. ... "I
know that there are a lot of good Italian
restaurants, but my wife and I are looking
for one that is different from the rest. Are
there any in the Detroit area? We went to
one in New York that had Italian food that
I had never heard of before. It was great,
but I can't remember the name. I know
that the waiter said it was from Italy" ...
Norman Melman
[That kind of Italian restaurant com-
ing first to mind is Cafe Cortina on 10
Mile, Farmington Hills ... A number of
Cafe Cortina's dishes are from Ponzo, Italy,
from where the parents of Rina Tonon,
co-owner with her son Adrian, came, such
as Pesce Aqua Pazza, which translated is
fresh Mediterranean fish in crazy water ...
Rina and Adrian travel regularly to Italy
for fresh dining ideas.]
LOCAL THEATRICAL legend Joey
Nederlander (Fisher Theatre, Pine Knob,
Riviera, etc., locally) of the highly respect-
ed Nederland Theatrical Organization,
with theaters and entertainment facilities
in the United States, Canada and Great
Britain, picks My Fair Lady as his favorite

presentation ... Why he hasn't written a
book is a question mark ... His stories
are endless ... One of them is of Neil
Diamond appearing at Pine Knob and
Joey going backstage to ask him where
the painting was that Joey had given him
... "It's in the hotel room," said Diamond,
"nobody steals pictures from hotel walls."
... Recently at breakfast he reverently talk-
ed about the great dining restaurants of
yesteryear and of the many star perform-
ers that appeared
at the Nederlander
venues ... Joey
travels weekly to
New York, home of
the Nederlander
Theatre, and joins
those of us who
admit to having
felt that Barbra
Streisand would
Barbra Streisand
never make it.
CONGRATS
To Karen Ming on
her birthday ... To
Rick Seid on his
58th birthday ...
To David Waxer on
his 60th birthday
... To William
Neil Diamond
Molner on his 60th
birthday ... To Jan Shain on her birthday
... To Lucille Rosett on her 90th birthday
... To Estelle Seltzer on her 81st birthday
... To Susan Dubin on her 65th birthday ...
To Martin Grant on his 80th birthday ... To
Louis Berman on his 90th birthday. I

Danny's email address is

dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.

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July 14 • 2011

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