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Hello And Goodbye
Morels opens again and Larco's calls it quits.
p
OTPOURRI
Mile, West Bloomfield, calls it
an elderly man, who is the dish-
A strictly personal policy of
quits on Saturday, June 9 ...
washer. The only other restau-
mine for many years has been to
There are no plans by owner
rant in Crosswinds is the Greek
wait a while until a recently opened major
Mark Larco to reopen again as
Uptown Parthenon, and I hope
restaurant gets off the ground a bit before
a sit-down restaurant, but he
that the new Bangkok Cuisine
making a full review observation.
leaves the name door slightly
will give a real boost and inject
I must admit, though, that my first visit
ajar by saying, "In the future,
new life into Crosswinds." ...
to Morels opened by Matt Prentice on
there may be the possibility of
Rachel Kapen.
Northwestern Highway, north of 14 Mile,
a Larco's carry-out location or
READER MINI REVIEW
Farmington Hills, revealed that it seems to
restaurant by another name."
... From Jim Berk ... "My wife,
Danny Raskin
have impressively sprung upward with a
... The Larco's title in Troy was
Senior
Columnist Beth, and I love the Barbecue
large leap ... It is beautiful, and the wall-
changed to Big Beaver Tavern
Salmon Chopped Salad at
eye topped with lump crab that I had was
by Mark and his wife, Susan
Champps, Orchard Lake Road
delightfully presented with good taste
Larco ... He is the son of the
in West Bloomfield. It consists
... Service looked to be above par, and it is
late Pete Larco, one of three founders with
of chopped lettuce (we order romaine or
evident that the servers make up an experi- late brothers Nick and Mike.
mixed greens), black bean and corn salsa,
enced bunch.
DANDY DINING DEAL ... Eggplant
avocado, tomatoes, cheddar, cheese and
Because food and service are like second Parmigiana ... Complete meal includes
tortilla strips, topped off with a juicy, tender
nature with Matt, there is little guesswork
soup or salad, spaghetti and potato or rice
strip of salmon drizzled with barbecue
involved in his open-
... $6.95 one week
sauce. Beth likes the chipotle ranch dressing
ing a new restaurant,
only, Thursday, May
that accompanies the salad. I prefer a less
but the intangibles
31-Thursday, June 7
creamy alternative like balsamic vinaigrette.
may still remain and
... George's Honey
The good thing about the salad is also that
could crop up ... My
Tree, Northwestern
you get a decent amount of vegetables and
initial go-tp concluded
Highway, West
fiber with a good source of protein. When
that it might have the
Bloomfield.
we go to Champps, we don't need a menu.
makings of an upscale
MAIL DEPT ... "A
Most times, like in the case of this salad, we
eatery that could even-
new Thai restaurant,
already know what we want."
tually be better than
Bangkok Cuisine,
GOOD CHEF DEPT. ... Along with
when the name was
opened in our neigh-
his fine proficiency of Italian cuisine, Chef
previously located in
boring Crosswinds
Giuseppe Barilla at RJ's American Grille,
Bingham Farms.
Plaza on Orchard Lake Northwestern Highway, south of 14 Mile,
The interior and
Road and Lone Pine
Farmington Hills, is also an all-around fast
exterior of the former
in West Bloomfield
kitchen wonder, highly adept at complete
Macaroni Grill building
where Cheesy Luigy
dining preparations of all foods to the satis-
is now wall-to-wall as
was located and next
faction of RJ's customers ... His former six-
different as the moon
to the closed Rusty
year experience at Cafe Cortina shows.
and sun ... Its mam-
Bucket. Eight of us
Matt Prentice under Morels' huge
THE BEST PART of attending charity
moth outside entrance outdoor canopy
ordered a variety of
events is when the fun is coupled with the
canopy with a huge
Thai entrees in dif-
good feeling one receives from giving.
Morels emblazoned on the front welcomes
ferent levels of spiciness — hot, medium
The 12th Annual Childhelp Michigan,
folks into what may very well evolve into
or mild. We enjoyed all of them, except the
Greater Detroit Chapter benefit at the
another select adventure in fine dining.
soup I had that came with the main dish
General Motors Heritage Center, chaired
A GREAT NAME in local dining his-
was much too spicy for me. I asked an
this year by David and Margo Grossman,
tory comes to a close as Larco's Italian
owner about the beautiful Thai wall paint-
was one of these wonderful happenings
Chophouse on Orchard Lake Road and 15
ings and discovered they were created by
... Not many among the 250 or more who
LUNDSTRoM
LUNDSTROM
COLLECTION
FALL WINTER 2012
TRUNK SHOW
JUNE 7TH, 8TH & 9TH
10AM - 5PM
62
May 31 . 2012
On the Boardwalk
248 626 7776
attended left without the feeling of love that
comes with benevolence while seeing and
joining beautiful people.
The group's Second Annual Kids and
Cars-themed gala was held among GM's
excellent private collection of polished
autos of yesteryears that included pace
cars from Indianapolis 500 events ... Last
year, the affair was held at a Chrysler set-
ting and hopes for 2013 are for a Ford
locale.
Betsy Reich, president of the Greater
Detroit Chapter of Childhelp, became
the first recipient of the newly formed
Elizabeth Brazilian Award for compassion-
ate leadership for Betsy's 10 years of work
with Childhelp Michigan ... Also featured
were a strolling dinner, live band, enter-
tainment, and live and silent auctions.
Small wonder that chair folks David
and Margo, also members of the advisory
board with Dan and Jennifer Gilbert,
Gretchen Davidson, Susu Sosnick, Henry
Lee, Richard Zussman, Judge Ed Sosnick
and Wendy Silverman, plus the other fine
volunteers were all smiles in the knowl-
edge that their efforts toward this year's
function brought in the whopping sum
of more than $110,000 ... Monies raised
each year assist greatly in their wonderful
work of helping youngsters supported by
Childhelp in the group's fight against child
abuse and efforts to improve foster care, etc.
CONGRATS ... To Shirley Wiss on her
birthday ... To Emma Kellman on her
14th birthday ... To Jennifer Shapiro on
her birthday ... To Ron Asmar on his 58th
birthday ... To Suzanne Himelhoch on her
83rd birthday ... To Wanda Frishman on
her 50th birthday ... To Alvin Frommer on
his 76th birthday ... To Marlis and Nick
Feldheim on their 60th anniversary. L
Danny Raskin's email is dannyraskin@
sbcglobal.net.