arts & entertainment >> the best of everything

Not Just Biga Bigalora!

Successful Italian eateries change name, expand menu.

O

nce his upscale Southfield restau-
rant Bacco Ristorante had received
overwhelming acceptance, the
owner/chef could focus on a secret ambition
he held for many years.
That dream was realized when Luciano
Del Signore opened his first casual and inno-
vative pizzeria with never-before-seen pizzas
to go along with freshly prepared Italian
dishes.
But he never dreamed that it would also
become such a huge success ... And that
on the third anniversary of the Southfield
operation, originally named Pizzeria Biga,
Luciano would open a third location in Ann
Arbor under the restaurant group's new
name, Bigalora Wood-Fired Cucina.
Luciano is even searching for sites to open
two more ... with the ambition of someday,
maybe, having a chain of at least 10 Bigalora
restaurants.
The fruition of his goal came true when
the first previously titled Pizzeria Biga
opened on Franklin
1 Road in Southfield
... Its second site
is on South Main
Street in Royal
Oak ... and the
third opened in the
new Arbor Hills
Crossing shop-
ping center on
Washtenaw Avenue
in Ann Arbor.
As the operation
entered its third
year, the revelation
came that Bigalora
Luciano Del Signore
is even more than
just the regular,
usual pizzeria ... And to bring this disclosure
across, the name had to be changed.
Bigalora is certainly not the sort of pizze-
ria one would imagine ... Far from it ... with
freshly made items in a list that includes
meatballs, wood-roasted wings, wood-

roasted heirloom carrots with
balsamic vinegar, goat cheese
and peanuts.
Other options include wood-
roasted branzino filet, salads
galore, pastas like Strozzapreti
Norcina (Bacco sausage, tomato,
cream, white truffle oil), fontina-
stuffed gnocchi marinara in a
tomato sauce, wood-roasted
Brussels sprout with pancetta,
olive oil and sea salt, etc. ... to
go along with pizzas never or
seldom seen anywhere else ... house-made
Bacco sausage, roasted vegetables, white
anchovies, heirloom tomato salad pizza, gulf
shrimp, etc.
It is so much more than just another piz-
zeria ... with pizzas, all-natural chicken, fish
(including organic Scottish salmon, sustain-
able Mediterranean sea bass), antipasti,
hand-rolled pastas, house-made ragouts and
other dishes ... Seven salads, seven pastas, 26
red or white specialty pizza classics, 52 top-
pings for personal favorites, two homemade
soups, etc.
So many items made on the premises that
take away the ordinary pizzeria connotation
... Five desserts, including Italian traditional
gelato in five flavors.
Seating at Bigalora in Southfield is 140
inside and 50 on an outside patio ... Also 12
stools at the popular bar.
Luciano spent years dreaming of his
Bigalora without people realizing that this
had been on his mind for a long time ...
He spent hours of trial and error in trying
to perfect his dream ... And after he did,
resulting in the formation of the formerly
named Pizzeria Biga, it achieved national
note ... The result is that now his Bigalora in
Southfield sees guests that number almost
2,000 a week ... Luciano's Bigalora in Royal
Oak easily brings more than 1,000 weekly.
His dreams come true are indeed from
Luciano's always-thinking-ahead fertile
mind.

L

LEBRATE THE NEW YEAR AT PRIME29

EXPERIENCE

NEW YEAR'S DINING

AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL

Extravagant 5 Course Pre-Fixe Dinner.

Option A begins at 5 pm
Menu Price: $150 per Couple.

76

November 28 • 2013

JN

A FIRST-TIME visit and an
exultant claim of it now being
one of her favorite Italian restau-
rants ... Nicole Meisner recently
celebrated her 21st birthday at
Bacco Ristorante, Northwestern
Highway, Southfield, hoping to
return soon.
"I've never had Fettucini
Fruitti Di Mare [pasta with sea-
food] like this, and what won-
derful service!" raved Nicole, a
psychology major at University
of Detroit Mercy.
The Criminal Minds television show has
nothing to do with food, but Nicole credits
watching it as the lure to follow a career
in behavioral analysis with the FBI or U.S.
Department of Homeland Security.
THE SUDDEN MEXICAN dining craze
has even carried over into the breakfast
field with eateries noted for their morning
and early noon fare adding more South of
the Border-named favorites ... Like at Zoe's
House of Pancakes, Orchard Mall, Orchard
Lake Road, north of Maple, West Bloomfield,
where menu additions now include break-
fast tacos, egg white Cinco de Mayo omelet,
Latino Benedict, breakfast burrito, breakfast
quesadilla, fiesta chicken taco salad, break-
fast tamales and much more.
TIME WAS WHEN most Japanese sushi
restaurant chefs were almost all of Japanese
or Korean origin ... Not so today, as one of
the better ones, Ivan Mendonzo, co-partner
chef of the Nippon Japanese Restaurant &
Sushi Bar that recently opened its doors,
has proven that being of Mexican heritage
or any non-Asian culture is no barrier ...
Ivan has been a sushi chef for about 15
years ... Nippon restaurant is located on
Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, just
north of Costco.
IT WAS A ROMANCE that began with
a plopping grapefruit ... Student Hedy
Bowman was having her repast with a
friend in the Michigan State University

•

lunchroom ... Out of nowhere came a sail-
ing grapefruit that frighteningly smashed
in front of her like a crushed flying saucer,
spewing seeds all over her.
One of the students at the other table
came over and apologized for the rudeness
of a member at his table, asked for and
received Hedy's "yes" for a date ... Thanks
to that grapefruit they are today husband
and wife ... David Blatt is executive director
of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation
and Hedy Blatt is its former community
relations director.
SNOWBIRDS DEPT. ... Michigan Club
in Delray, Fla., meets the third Thursday of
the month at the Delray Civic Center on Jog
Road ... Call Herman Ozrovitz, (561) 482-
2852, or Ruth Aaron, (561) 495-4063.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT.... Monte
goes to a kosher deli to meet his good
friend Herschel. As the two friends greet
each other, Herschel notices that Monte has
golden dentures and asks about them.
"Oh, I just got them:' Monte said. "I have
seven pairs:'
Herschel gasps and asks, "Why would
you ever need seven pairs?"
"I have one set for meat, one set for dairy
and another for parve," Monte explains.
"What about the others?" asks Herschel.
"On Pesach, you know, you need separate
sets of things. So on Pesach I use one for
meat, one for dairy and another for parve."
"What about the seventh set?" asks
Herschel.
Monte shrugs, "Now and then, I like to
have a ham sandwich:'
CONGRATS ... To Michelle Nagel on her
birthday ... To Dennis and Sharon Green on
their 12th anniversary ... To Michael and
Sandy Hermanoff on their 38th anniversary
... To John and Ilene Monkman on their
40th anniversary.

❑

Danny's email address is
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.

III

•

RIME 29: s

STEAKS • SEAFiiiiICOcicrAlir

II

Contact Our General Manager
Stoli Liti at 248.737.7463 or email at stoli@prime29steakhouse.com For More

Information or To Schedule a Tour.
Professional & Experienced Party Planning Support.

Option B begins at 8 pm
*Menu Price: $200 per Couple

Limited Seating. Call For Reservations

(*includes live entertainment at 9 pm - close &
complimentary champagne toast at midnight)

For Reservations I 248.73.PRIME (77463) I prime29steakhouse.com
6545 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48322