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So Many Choices!
O'Brien's Crabhouse's menu includes hard-to-find delicacies of the sea.
I
t sits out there in a sort of hiding
O'Brien's menu is also some-
mode ... But like they say, you can't
what of a grocery list of what
hide forever.
is in the kitchen ... If a guest
Not that it isn't well-known enough ...
concocts a dish in his mind,
Just that the name changed from Fran
Dan and his staff will make
O'Brien's Maryland Crabhouse to simply
every effort to create it ... And
O'Brien's Crabhouse, and it sort of threw
if the ingredients are in the
some people off ... putting them in some-
house, you can almost bet that
what of a forgetful state of mind.
they will.
However, those who have frequented
Actually, the O'Brien's menu
O'Brien's Crabhouse, owned 23 years by
doesn't really tell the true story
Dan Dunsky, son of localites Harriet and
of this seafood find, with its
Bob Dunsky, on Opdyke Road between
Ipswich clams, sea scallops,
South Boulevard and Auburn Road in
shrimp, etc. ... Other items are
Auburn Hills, can't easily forget the good-
also available.
ness of his many seafarin' presentations.
It is open Monday-Friday, 11-10;
In fact, since opening 23 years ago, more Saturday, 4-10; Sunday, 4-9 ... Seating
than a million people have come through
is a comfortable 80 plus another 12 bar
the doors ... Consuming around 80,000
seats.
stone crab claws, about 6,000 pounds of
Dan's restaurant looks just like such a
smelt, some 300,000 crab cakes, more than restaurant's decor should and gives diners
14,500 gallons of clam chowder, etc.
a sort of warm, informal feel as they dig
A best seller that so many visitors lust-
into the yummies Nautical ropes, lob-
ily enjoy is the Perch Picatta at O'Brien's,
ster traps, stuffed sharks and barracuda,
sauteed and presented on
items up from the deep
a bed of rice pilaf with a
blue waters, etc.
lemon butter, artichoke
Seafood dining has
and caper sauce.
always been a very
In fact, Dan may be this
popular feast of good-
locale's largest exponent of
ness ... O'Brien's takes it
good things to eat from sea
up another notch or two
and ocean waters... He has
by concentrating mainly
Michigan's largest selection
on favorites that include
of crabs ... king, snow,
rarely found choices like
Dungeness, blue, stone,
the Maryland Blue Crabs
cakes, soft shell, imperial
from Chesapeake Bay or
... and if I left any out, he
Snow Crabs in season ...
Dan Dunsky, 2 3-year owner
probably has them, too.
It even has Dungeness
of O'Brien's C rabhouse
Very few, if any, other
crab clusters ... and won-
seafood restaurant here-
derful soups like true New
England clam chowder,
abouts can lay claim to
and a lip-smacking goodie like Maryland
having Maryland Blue Crabs, served at
O'Brien's steamed with a traditional sea-
spiced crab ... plus one that includes
soning, or pickerel in garlic butter dished
both.
up at places like the Rustic Inn that many
In fact, if there are any seafood dishes
folks frequent in Florida.
that your mouth has been watering for
but you can't find, chances are
that if you ask him, Dan will
have them for you on your
next visit.
Steaks and pasta, too? ... Of
course.
The waters have their din-
ing treasures swimming about
... Dan Dunsky's large choices
of rarely discovered favorites
from the briny deep bring
many smiles.
QUESTION AND ANSWER
DEPT. ... "You said in a col-
umn that Cantonese food was the favor-
ite Chinese food. What is your favorite
Cantonese food?" ... Lilly Ann Betsman.
[I wrote that Cantonese seems to be the
favorite among readers ... But that it is
strictly a personal opinion of many ... My
Cantonese favorites other than here are
in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago and Las Vegas, all of where I
have ordered and enjoyed dishes that I
cannot seem to get in this area ... Like
Phoenix chicken (browned sliced chicken
breast with snow peas and Chinese veg-
etables), melon soup (chicken-based
soup served in a carved and hollowed-out
melon, and filled with lobster, chicken,
abalone, mushrooms, peas and vegeta-
bles), lychee duck (marinated duck boiled
with red-rice wine and seasonings, etc.]
GOOD HOSTESS DEPT. ... Doing
things fast is nothing new to Becky
Wilson, evening hostess at Joe Vicari's
Andiamo Italian Steakhouse, Telegraph
and 15 Mile, Bloomfield Township ... As
driver of her own hydroplane racing craft
with its jet-ski engine on Pontiac Lake,
Becky skims the water at more than 100
miles per hour.
She knows her stuff, too, as a quick-
acting hostess with a great smile, oozing
personality and total efficiency in her
ready assistance to Andiamo guests.
MEMORY DEPT. ... Sam Essick, while
here from California with wife, Dorothy,
reminisced about Art Lebow, Crown
Furniture owner, buying seven suits at a
time ... When he tired of them, Sam recalls,
Art passed the suits on to Dr. Mort Lazar ...
then just a fledgling medic but today retired
and still remembered as the doctor who
brought so many localites into the world.
REUNION DEPT. ... Date and place
have been set for the biggie 50-year
reunion of Detroit's Mumford High
School ... The 1963 grads will get
together on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Somerset
Inn, Troy ... For more information, call
Jules Goldman, (248) 926-8585.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Harry
owned a small delicatessen and one
day was visited by a gent from Internal
Revenue to talk about his tax return.
Harry reported an amount that the IRS
fellow was suspicious about.
"I work like a maniac all year-round,
and all of my family help me out when-
ever they can:' said Harry. "My little deli
is closed only five days a year. That's how
I made the money"
"It's not your income that we question:'
said the IRS agent. "It's the business trav-
el deductions that we're concerned about.
You wrote that you and your wife made 15
business trips to Israel last year."
"Oh:' said Harry. "I forgot to mention,
we also deliver"
CONGRATS ... To Ed Radner on his
76th birthday ... To Karen Indig on her
birthday ... To Morton Genser on his
76th birthday ... To Jay Grant on his 91st
birthday ... To George Ingber on his 90th
birthday ... To Don Cohen on his birthday
... To Keri Cohen on her birthday ... To
Marvin Yagoda on his 75th birthday ... To
Steven Schafer on his 50th birthday ... To
Alexandra "Ali" Weitz on her birthday.
❑
Danny's email is dannyraskingsbcglobalmet.
PRIME29
STEAKS • SEAFOOD • COCKTAILS
a i f
SHE DESERVES TO BE PAMPERED
FOR RESERVATIONS I 248.73.PRIME (77463) I prime29steakhouse.com
6545 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48322
64
April 18 • 2013
JIM