arts & entertainment >> the best of everything
A Birmingham Jewel
For a quarter century, Townsend Hotel's Rugby Grille has set the standard.
A
lways a "class act:' it continues
to generate a very respected rat-
ing as one of the premier dining
operations in this area.
Recently reaching the highly-regarded
milestone of its 25th anniversary,
Rugby Grille in the Townsend Hotel,
Birmingham, brings a new look to an
already striking ambience ... together with
lighter foods available during the warm
weather that blend with the usual fine core
menu items.
The bar area is separated now from the
dining sector ... and the entire back bar
and equipment have been replaced ...
along with new furniture, artwork, carpet-
ing and lighting ... A new patio, too, is
directly off the gallery dining area adjacent
to the windows fronting Townsend Street.
Popular menu items like the Hydro
Bibb Salad (peach berry vinaigrette, ched-
dar cheese, dried cherries, toasted pine
nuts) and the much-requested classic
Dover sole, deboned tableside, are now
also accompanied with dishes like citrus
arctic char, Wagyu Carpaccio, duck breast,
Scottish salmon, etc.
Newcomers to the Rugby Grille include
Jared Chorney, food and beverage direc-
tor; David Brown, Rugby Grille's manager
(also a certified wine sommelier); Andrew
Alcid, chef de cuisine; and Executive Chef
Drew Sayes, who joined the team this year.
David Brown, manager, Rugby Grille;
Steven Kalczynski, managing director,
Townsend Hotel; and Jared Chorney,
food and beverage director, Townsend
Hotel.
Seating in the well-appointed
Rugby Grille dining room is for
80 persons along with another
22 in the patio sector ... The
millions of guys and gals who
have passed through the Rugby
doors to dine on its sumptuous
food offerings that also include
items not on the menu like
tableside-prepared steak tartare,
Caesar salad tossed tableside (in
classic wooden bowls) in artis-
tic presentation and Bananas
Foster, are not disappointed ...
plus they enjoy selections from a fine wine
list.
Breakfast is served from 6:30 a.m. and
lunch, 11-3; dinner, 3-midnight ... seven
days a week ... Tea service by reservation
only is also seven days.
Rugby Grille celebrates its 25th anni-
versary with the same absolute refinement
that it has carried since the Townsend
Hotel opened in all its elegance back in
1988 ... From that time, the Townsend has
become a nationally known stay-at place
for celebrities from the worlds of showbiz,
sports, etc., as well as regular John and
Jane Does, who also greatly appreciate the
fine amenities of its excellent many-times
award-winning Rugby Grille.
Both Rugby Grille and Townsend Hotel
are held in the high regards that makes
Metropolitan Detroit and Michigan proud
of their outstanding 25-year silver existences.
FIRST CAME the present from Wine
Spectator Magazine with a 2013 Award of
Excellence for its wide variety of red and
white wines and their paring with various
menu items ... Then Prime 29 steak and
seafood restaurant, 15 Mile and Orchard
Lake Road, West Bloomfield, gave itself a
gift to share with folks who came to help
celebrate its first birthday.
Wine, champagne and soft drinks
flowed like water, and folks joyously
gulped the bevy of delicious passed hors
d'oeuvres that included a sumptuous array
prepared by Executive Chef
Hai Ying Bushey ... filet
steak, lamb chops, skewered
chicken, duck breast, stuffed
quail, short ribs, seared ahi
tuna, seared shrimp, oysters
Rockefeller, etc. ... capping
off a successful one-year cel-
ebration for Prime 29.
QUESTION & ANSWER
DEPT. ... "Can you please
ask those at the Stage Deli,
why they are probably the
only big-time Jewish deli in
the country not to serve onion bagels? It's
disheartening, considering there is a New
York Bagel store in the same shopping cen-
ter" ... Mike "Stoney" Stone.
[Steve Goldberg, owner of Stage Deli,
says, "We always do the best we can to sat-
isfy special requests. With bagels, we often
get requests for special varieties: pumper-
nickel, everything, sesame, poppy seed,
cinnamon raisin and, yes, onion. While I
would like to say yes to everyone, it would
be a challenge to serve such a large variety
and maintain the freshness we demand
and our guests expect. For that reason, we
stick to the basics: plain, egg & salt. We do,
however, carry fresh onion rolls and onion
rye for our onion-loving friends:']
A LARGE ASSET in restaurants that
have daily specials of items not listed on the
menu has proven to be otherwise valuable
in another way ... Those specialty dishes
that people enjoy at Mon Jin Lau, 15 Mile
and Stephenson, Troy, can be ordered at any
time if the ingredients are in house, which
they usually are at the Asian dining favorite.
MAIL DEPT.... "Thanks to the Reader
Mini Review by Jim Lemire in a recent col-
umn, we went to Magdaleno's in Lincoln
Park for dinner. My husband and I both
started with the minestrone soup. He also
indulged in the basket of bread with its
toasted bread brushed with garlic butter.
I had the chicken piccata, and he had the
penne all'arrabbiata. Our tab before the tip
was just under $30. The service was both
personal and professional. We'll certainly
be back:' ... Pauline Averbach and Chuck
Peacock.
GOOD WAITRESS DEPT. ... The
experience of Wai "Catherine" U at
Shangri-La West Bloomfield, Orchard
Mall, 15 Mile and Orchard Lake Road,
since it opened 19 years ago, clearly
shows ... Always smiling and pleasant,
with efficiency that brings dining
satisfaction to all those she serves.
REMINDER DEPT. ... Walk Of Ages
this Sunday at the JCC at Maple and Drake
in West Bloomfield ... registration 9 a.m.,
warm-up 9:30, walk at 10.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Three
men arrive in New York from Europe and
decide to meet again in 20 years to see
how they all made out in America.
After 20 years, the first says, "When I
came to this country I didn't know how to
make a living and looked at my last name,
Goldstein, so I went into the gold business
and made a fortune.
He turns and asks the next man, "Well,
how about you?" "I looked at my last
name, Silverberg. So I went into silver and
made a fortune, too:'
They both turned to the third man and
asked what happened to him. "I had no
idea either how to make living, so I looked
at my last name, Taylor, and said that's no
good. I will never make money as a tailor.
"So I went to the synagogue and prayed.
`God, if you make me a wealthy man, I
promise to make you my partner."
The first man asked, "So what happened?"
"What's the matter? You never heard of
Lord & Taylor?"
CONGRATS ... To Dee Shapiro on
her birthday ... To Gary Tringale on his
birthday ... To Lisa Hallett on her birth-
day ... To Jerry and Carol Israel on their
50th anniversary ... To Larry and Michele
Maloff on their 25th anniversary.
❑
Danny's email is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.
PRIME29 Groth Wine Tasting Dinner
STEAKS • SEAFOOD • COCKTAILS
Thursday I September 19, 2013
I
From 7pm - 9pm
$125 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
5 Course Wine Tasting Dinne
paired with 6 wine labels.
Limited Seating. Call For Reservations.
FOR REASRVATIONS 1248.73.PRIME (77463) I prime29steakhouse.com
, 4545 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48322
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August 15 • 2013
JN
G roth