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Getting Biga And Betta!
Bacco Ristorante and Pizzeria Biga enjoy great success.
T
his month marks another mile-
stone for owners Luciano and
wife, Monica Del Signore.
They have surpassed the original goal
of at least 10 years in their own restau-
rant business and soon go into number
11 without the least semblance of a hitch
... Also with the unexpected openings of
more restaurants by another name and
style.
Luciano's prowess as a chef has been
well documented and his business sharp-
ness takes on another dimension with the
continued growth.
His visions are now at least twofold ...
For Bacco Ristorante on Northwestern,
between 12 Mile and Inkster, Southfield,
continuing to add culinary innovations that
already include successful dining endeav-
ors with dishes not seen elsewhere ... And
the opening soon of a third Pizzeria Biga in
Ann Arbor to follow like Biga operations in
Southfield and Royal Oak.
Bacco is noted for its fresh, high-quality,
all natural-fed beef to best-sellers like
its Banzino Mediterraneo, oven-roasted
whole Mediterranean sea bass, etc., among
other choice menu selections.
Since Bacco Ristorante's opening 11
years ago, it has seen almost a
million people dining on chick-
en, fish, steaks, etc., that bring
them back for more.
Bacco is open Monday-
Thursday, 11:30-10; Friday,
11:30-11; Saturday, 4-11 ... With
seating in the dining room for
95, eight stools in the lounge
and the private-party Saletta's 70
capacity.
Also true are the surprisingly
almost-immediate take-offs of
their Pizzeria Biga restaurants ... His first
one on Franklin Road, Southfield, with a
seating capacity of 150 in the dining room,
16 in its lounge, 10 stools at a bar and
50-seating outdoor patio, opened in June
2010, and already has seen lofty figures
... Like around 300,000 people coming
through the doors to enjoy nearly 25,000
pounds of Buffalo Mozzarella cheese,
around 25,000 pounds of home-blended
cheese, more than 150,000 pounds of
tomato sauce, etc.
Best-sellers including pizza margarita
with imported Italian Buffalo Mozzarella
cheese and basil, Bacco sausage pizza with
hand-made sausage, etc., are joined by
other offerings to provide a unique dining
experience.
The first Pizzeria Biga went over so
well that a second one was opened on
Main Street in Royal Oak last April ...
Seating in Royal Oak is for 75 in the din-
ing room plus another eight lounge stools
and an outdoor patio of 30 ... Its Buffalo
Mozzarella count is more than 10,000
pounds in just a year, with almost 35,000
pounds of house blend cheese for favorites
that are also featured at the Southfield
location.
Pizzeria Biga Southfield is open
Monday-Thursday, 11-10; Friday, 11-11;
Saturday, 3-11; Sunday, 4-11 ... Pizzeria
Biga Royal Oak weekday hours are
the same as Southfield with hours for
Saturday, 8-11; and Sunday, 8-10.
Monica and Luciano Del Signore
It is notable that at both
Pizzeria Biga locations, no
commercial yeast is used as
well as no sugar in its pizza
preparations.
Luciano and Monica's
Bacco Ristorante and Pizzeria
Biga restaurants have come
a long way in their tenures
and also deservedly enjoy
the high regard and respect
in which both Luciano and
Monica are held.
MEMORIES OF yesteryears here in the
Detroit area grip David Overton, chairman
and CEO of his Cheesecake Factory restau-
rant chain that is scheduled to come to the
local region for the first time.
They are fond remembrances as
David recalls attending James Vernor
Elementary, Mumford High and Wayne
State University ... Especially, he says,
when a large machine was brought in to
the James Vernor school
to serve Vernor's ginger
ale to all the students.
And of when he
played his drums in
the Martin-David Band
with inspiration from
Motown music before
leaving when he was 21
David Overton
years old to attend law
school at the Hastings
College of Law in San Francisco ... David
had the music bug and left his law stud-
ies in 1968 to join the Billy Roberts Blues
Band as its rock 'n' roll drummer.
He still has a drum set at home where
wife, Sheila, and their three children don't
mind when David bangs away.
Yes, he says, his dream was that some-
day a great location in the Detroit area
would be found "where it all started:'
Date of opening hasn't been set yet,
but the Cheesecake Factory that will
open at Twelve-Oaks Mall in Novi will be
welcomed here as a wonderful tribute to
the foresight of David in expanding the
chain that began when his mother, Evelyn
Overton, made her New York-style cheese-
cakes in the finished basement of the fam-
ily's Detroit home.
More memories by David recalling
when he and his sister Renee used to earn
their childhood allowances by folding pink
cardboard cake boxes for their parents.
It was David who convinced his parents,
Evelyn and Oscar, to relocate from Detroit
to Los Angeles and open a commercial
bakery ... They found a 700-square-foot
store in North Hollywood and Oscar sold
Evelyn's cheesecake to restaurant accounts.
The first Cheesecake Factory was a
100-seater in Beverly Hills, Calif., and
today, through David's foresight, is one of
America's foremost restaurant chains.
VISITORS TO CABO, St. Lucas, in the
Caribbean, won't find him there anymore
... Former Detroiter David Greenberg has
left the restaurant scene and is now enjoy-
ing real estate and property management
challenges in southern California ... His
Greenberg's Restaurant (formerly Senor
Greenberg's Mexitessen) was sold to the
Baja Brewing Co.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... An
elderly Jewish lady is walking home from
her garment industry job when suddenly
a man who has been walking toward her,
stands in front of her and flashes her by
opening his raincoat. She takes a look and
remarks, "That you call a lining?"
CONGRATS ... To Frank Ellias on his
70th birthday ... To David Rogovein on his
birthday ... To Yelena Rosin on her birth-
day ... To Dorothy Braiker on her birthday
... To Annie Begel on her 90th birthday ...
To Don Ross on his birthday ... To Daniel
"Danny" Weintraub on his birthday ...
To Jerry Begel on his 70th birthday ... To
Leonard "Len" Shapiro on his 80th birth-
day ...To Melvin "Mel" and Diane Clayton
on their 50th anniversary.
❑
Danny's address is dannyraskingsbcglobalmet.
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