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Eclectic Ecstasy

Sweet Lorraine's serves "world beat" food with love.

j

ust about everyone loves a good
The Mac n' Cheez! restau-
love story ... What has food got
rants are all about comfort
to do with true love? ... Plenty,
food, with more than 14 styles
when it pertains to romance happening to
of mac and cheese preparations
two people whose happiness as life part-
plus salads, soups, sandwich
ners also takes in their love for cuisine.
wraps and desserts ... all made
Whoever said that the romance is over
to order.
when two people go into the restaurant
"Over the past 29 years:'
business and see "too much of each other"
says Lorraine, "I've watched
never met Gary Sussman and Lorraine
many dining trends come and
Platman.
go. Nouvelle cuisine, Fusion,
The two look back when they were wed
New American, comfort food,
and she was such a wonderful cook that
and more. What I've done is to
they also went into the restaurant business take the best of these trends and create a
together ... Lorraine in charge of food and new path to mark our future with Sweet
Gary the business end ... A wonderful
Lorraine's Fabulous Mac n' Cheez!"
togetherness arrangement in a beautiful
Lorraine calls her cooking style at Sweet
love affair.
Lorraine's "world beat" but most refer to
The birth of their dining togetherness
it as New American cuisine ... Both res-
"baby" came about in 1982 on 14 Mile and taurants feature full bars and, along with
Campbell in Madison Heights... and two
daily specials, continue to serve items that
years later grew up as a
have been on the menu
larger Sweet Lorraine's
since it opened ... like the
on Greenfield, just north
pecan chicken, shrimp and
of 12 Mile, Southfield,
chicken Creole and house-
which is still very much
made desserts.
a highly popular destina-
Sweet Lorraine's Cafe
tion restaurant.
& Bar on Greenfield is
On the cooking end,
open seven days a week
Lorraine has few peers
... Monday-Thursday, 11
... And when it comes to
a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 11-11;
managing and market-
Saturday, 8 a.m-11 p.m.;
Gary Sussman a nd Lorraine
ing, Gary is a whiz ...
Sunday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Platman
Together they make the
Seating at the Greenfield
ideal couple for a suc-
restaurant is 160 in the
cessful restaurant endeavor.
dining room and 32 in the lounge.
And that is just what Sweet Lorraine's
"We've seen a lot of changes in the
turned out to be as they celebrate the 29th
Detroit dining scene over the last 29 years,"
anniversary of their original opening in
says Gary. "Many restaurants have come
Southfield ... Today, there are two full-
and gone, some trendy and some classic. I
think my wife, Lorraine, has proven that if
service Sweet Lorraine's Cafe and Bars,
in Southfield and Livonia, plus their new
we give diners a consistently fresh, fun and
offshoots, Sweet Lorraine's Fabulous Mac
delicious dining experience, guests will con-
n Cheez! in the Somerset Collection, Troy,
tinue to enjoy Sweet Lorraine's:'
It is estimated that more than 4 million
and Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, Auburn
Hills ... and February openings slated for
people have visited Sweet Lorraine's since
Detroit and East Lansing.
it opened 29 years ago, a period when

Lorraine and Gary could count
customers ... but destined
to eventually become what
WDIV-TV (Channel 4) voted
as Metro Detroit's 2013 Best
"New American" Restaurant.
BIG RAVES COME regard-
ing the comfort food at Rick
Halberg's Local Kitchen
and Bar on West Nine Mile,
Ferndale ... Particularly about
the moist turkey meatloaf and
crunchy fried green tomatoes
... This is quite an interesting dining con-
cept conceived by Rick and partner Brian
Siegel.
Rick is a Culinary Institute of America
grad whose innovative dining ways are
well documented ... Local Kitchen is a
big reversal from his other cuisine ven-
tures like the former Emily's in Northville
... Much proof that a good chef/owner
is worth his weight in turkey meatloaf,
chicken cutlets, fried green tomatoes, etc.
READER MINI REVIEW ... by Susan
Sherbow ... "Steve & Rocky's on Grand
River, Novi, is a trendy dining spot crowd-
ed with young couples, families, diners of
all ages in a sophisticated atmosphere and
not too noisy.
"We started our meal with the earthy-
flavored creamy mushroom soup that
included small delicious mushroom
chunks.
"I had the vegetarian entree of baked
acorn squash with rice pilaf, lentils, dried
cherries and squash seeds. It was a tasty
combination of flavors that was very
sweet. Maybe too much.
"My husband, Mark, had the chicken
cordon bleu, which had a beautiful
crunchy crust and was topped with a
blend of Gruyere cheese and smoked ham.
It is served with a light chicken broth
and white wine sauce, delightfully spiced
potato discs, perfectly cooked green beans
and topped with a fried egg:'

QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT....
"Do you know who it was that had those
swell cottage-fried potatoes I used to get
Downtown? I forgot the name of the res-
taurant" ... Sydney Sternberg
[Many places had them, but the best, I
think, were at Berman's Chop House on
Times Square. Quite a number of people still
talk about those Berman's fries.]
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... A rabbi
and his two friends, a priest and a minister,
played poker for small stakes once a week.
The only problem was that they lived in a
very conservative blue-law town. The sheriff
raided their game and took all three before
the local judge.
After listening to the sheriff's story, the
judge sternly inquired of the priest, "Were
you gambling, Father?"
The priest looked toward Heaven, whis-
pered "Oh Lord, forgive me!" and then said
aloud, "No, your honor, I was not gambling:'
"Were you gambling, Reverend?" the judge
asked the minister. The minister repeated the
priest's actions and said, "No, your honor, I
was not:'
Turning to the third clergyman, the judge
asked, "Were you gambling, Rabbi?"
The rabbi eyed him coolly and replied,
"With whom?"
CONGRATS ... To Paula Duke on her
birthday ... To Natalie Canvasser on her
birthday ... To Abram Shain on his 90th
birthday ... To Boris Shain on his 65th
birthday ... To Robert Canvasser on his
89th birthday ... To John "Johnny" Katz
on his 81st birthday ... To William "Bill"
Nosanchuk on his birthday ... To Joe
"Joey" Goldberg on his 63rd birthday ... To
Lawrence "Larry" and Shirley Jonas on their
46th anniversary ... To Harold "Hutch" and
Ethel Bobroff on their 69th anniversary ...
To Dale and Marcie Lebow on their 39th
anniversary ... To Manuel and Eva Rott on
their 66th anniversary.

❑

Danny's email is dannyraskingsbcglobalmet.

You're going to want to eat your veggies,
if they taste like this...

Fried Green Tomatoes that
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40 December 19 • 2013

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