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A Dining Delight

Innovative chef creates a top-notch menu at Fox Grill in Bloomfield Hills.

T

here he was, a 13-year-old boy help-
ing his mom in the kitchen, and the
furthest thing from his mind was
becoming a chef.
His ambition, instead, was to follow in
the footsteps of a long line of relatives and be
a law enforcement officer ... Maybe a state
trooper.
But life has a quirky way of changing
one's future ... And the next scene has
Jimmy Stepp graduating from the CIA ...
the Culinary Institute of America, that is, in
Hyde Park, N.Y.
An even further development has Jimmy,
all 6-feet-3-inches of him, as chef/co-partner
of the Fox Grill on Woodward Avenue near
Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills ... He,
along with Nigel Barnett and Mark Aichele,
are celebrating the second anniversary of
what has become a good-dining "sleeper;
gaining recognizable momentum as a res-
taurant noted for upscale selections without
overly large prices.
The restaurant's location is on the former
site of the Fox & Hounds, a Tudor-style
building built in 1928 as a traveler's stopover
point between Detroit and Flint ... The
popular landmark restaurant on that locale
was owned by Ben Kasle and then his chef,
Kevin Downey.
Being a CIA graduate, much to Steve's

credit, is no slouchy accomplish-
ment ... So many have attended
this very prestigious culinary
institution but not all graduate
... This certainly shows up in the
makings of a fine menu and the
chef's capabilities in its varied
production as Jimmy so capably
plies his trade in the compact
3,200-square-foot Fox Grill that
replaced a segment of the torn-
down Fox & Hounds restaurant.
Seating capacity is 120 in the
dining room, 20 in a lounge with 15 stools
and four seats plus another 40 in the new
outdoor patio facing Woodward ... Seven-
day-a-week hours are Monday-Thursday,
11-10; Friday and Saturday, 11-11, Sun. 4-9.
In the two years since opening, present
estimates account for more than 80,000 diners
coming through the doors ... enjoying about
3,000 pounds of lake perch, around 1,200
pounds of shrimp, more than 1,600 pounds of
salmon and almost 1,000 gallons of soup.
A newly revised menu numbers best-sell-
ing items like whitefish in all forms, broiled
and otherwise, perch, steaks, baby-back ribs,
prime rib, meatloaf, etc. ... Also dishes not
seen on too many other menus like Finnan
Haddie (haddock) ... and specials at lunch
and dinner.
Particular attention is carefully
given to health-and-welfare needs
like dietary restrictions, vegetarian
requests or gluten-free and lactose-
free offerings.
Wine lovers will enjoy Fox Grill's
novel method of presenting its wine list
... by way of a very easy-to-use iPad
and roaming fingers ... The restau-
rant has six of them for customers
to informatively stroll in their vino
selections.
Among its best food sellers, the
Fox Grill owners: Nigel Barnett, Mark Aichele
Cioppino,
or San Francisco-style
and Chef Jimmy Stepp

fish stew, served at Fox Grill,
is about as authentic as it gets
with Dungeness crab, clams,
shrimp, mussels and haddock
in a tomato broth ... Other top
orders include its filet, bourbon
salmon, pan-seared perch, etc.
The innovative mind of a
chef is rarely ever fully satisfied
... constantly searching in the
field of creative cooking ... This
is why someone like Steve is
able to prepare creative dishes
... like his bone-in meatloaf made on the
premises from top-grade ground steak and
prime rib ... Imagine, meatloaf with a bone
sticking out!
Fox Grill, with its dark mahogany walls
and lighting softness, comfortably presents a
relaxed setting for an at-ease lunch or dinner
to go with many inventive-mind presenta-
tions of upscale food by a chef who chose
taste-bud bliss over crime-busting.
NO TRUTH TO rumors that Cheesecake
Factory is contemplating opening at a second
location in this area ... The restaurant chain
is slated to open in late August at Twelve
Oaks Mall, Novi, but there are no plans for
another spot at the Mall at Partridge Creek,
Clinton Township ... "Whenever we open
in a new market, we typically wait to see
how our initial location does before making
plans for additional sites',' says a Cheesecake
Factory representative.
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT. ... "I ate
Mexican food for the first time and loved it.
But I would never order "Dirty Rice' Why
would any restaurant serve something like
that?" ... Lois Sperson.
[Dirty Rice is not what you think, Lois ...
It is a Cajun specialty of white rice cooked
with ground or chopped chicken livers, gib-
lets, onions and seasoning ... The ground
giblets give the rice a "dirty" appearance but
a lot of flavor.]

PRIME 29

I REMEMBER DEPT. ... When song-
ster Johnny Mathis appeared on TV's Mike
Douglas Show, he said his next record would
be the tune "People Who Matter" ... Mathis
didn't know that the song, both words and
music, were by another guest on the show,
localite band leader Mel Ball, who penned
the ballad while appearing at Angel's Hour
Glass on West McNichols, Detroit.
MAKING ROUNDS ... To Cafe Via,
Birmingham, for crab cakes ... To Steven
Lelli's Inn on the Green, Farmington Hills,
for Lelli's minestrone soup without cream or
butter ... To Hungarian Rhapsody, Southgate,
for beef goulash ... To Mom's, Allen Park,
for cannelloni made on the premises ... To
Pizzeria Biga, Royal Oak, for wood-masted
chicken ... To Sweet Lorraine's, Southfield, for
pecan chicken ... To Rugby Grille, Townsend
Hotel, Birmingham, for tableside deboned
Dover sole.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Joe and
Sam met in a restaurant for a business lunch
... Joe said, "I have a good deal for you, Sam.
When I was in San Diego and visited the
zoo, I happened to pick up an elephant they
didn't need any more. I could let you have it
for $3,000:'
Sam sipped his gin and tonic and
said, "Joe, what am I going to do with an
elephant? I live in a third-floor flat. I barely
have room for my furniture. I can't even
squeeze in a card table. So you think I'm
going to buy an elephant?"
"I could let you have two of them for two
grand:' said Joe.
"Aha:' said Sam. "Now you're talking!"
CONGRATS ... To Madeline "Mandy"
Hoenow on her 66th birthday ... To Julie
Edgar on her birthday ... To Kipton "Kip"
Kaplan on his birthday ... To Alex Margulies
on his 29th birthday ... To Mike Germansky
on his 64th birthday.

❑

Danny's email is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.

OjienTable corn.

Diners' Choice

WINNER 2013

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NOW OPEN AT 2PM
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May 16 • 2013

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