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'The Root' Has Taken Root

Two-year-old White Lake bistro is a proven winner.

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ike the beginning of so many other
150,000 guests who have dined
restaurants, one of the newest and
on the excellent specialties Chef
largest gainers of dining popularity Rigota and his staff aptly pre-
can attribute its launch to the expression,
pare with the resulting receipt
"Let's go into business together"
of taste-bud accolades ... Like
But it wasn't as a restaurant.
best-sellers of pan-seared scal-
Chef James Rigota was the third chef
lops, delicious crab cakes, char-
hired for the part-time job of catering
grilled burgers from grass-fed
lunch for friend Ed Mamou's Royal Oak
Michigan beef, etc.
Recycling company, and the only one
"Our restaurant:' says
ending up as a full-time employee ...
Mamou, "is built on the ideol-
Following a trip together to San Francisco,
ogy that local, seasonal food is
they returned and the result was the for-
not only a better way to cook
mation of a separate company called Ripe
but an obligation to nature'
Catering.
Chef Rigato may not have ever before
From that beginning came the Root
been an executive chef, but being a gradu-
Restaurant & Bar, now feting the end
ate of the outstanding Schoolcraft College
of only its second anniversary on Town
culinary program, with eyes and ears open
Center Boulevard in the Village Lake Plaza learning the ropes of fine dining from
on the corner of Elizabeth Lake Road and
prominent master chefs, is quite a high
Highland Road (M-59), White Lake.
learning experience to lean on.
Catering is still an active participation,
The Root Restaurant & Bar is open
but now it is part of the Root eatery, which six days a week ... Monday-Thursday,
has made unbelievably great strides and,
11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday,
11 a.m.-11 p.m. ... Seating in the dining
in 2012, was named by a local publication
as its restaurant of the year.
room is 100 with 18 stools at the bar and
Rigota had never been an executive chef 28 seats on the outdoor patio.
before ... and Ed had never been in the
In its short existence, the Root has
restaurant business ...
already created an
This combination rarely
enviable mark in choice
dining experiences
puts up the numbers its
owners would wish for
that have resulted in
... But as it has turned
many return visits and
out, they make a win-
award-winning praise.
ning team whose din-
RECENT HONOR as
ing ideals have brought
"Best Downtown Chef"
much acclaim ... Both
in Las Vegas went to
Chef Joe Parrino, for-
wanted an open kitchen
Ed Mamou and Chef James
concept among other
merly
at Joe Vicari's
Rigota
Andiamo Italian
thoughts to prepare and
highlight their food and,
Steakhouse, Bloomfield
while visiting Chicago for dining ideas,
Hills, now head chef at Vicari's steak-
were inspired by the casual but fine-style
house in the new D Hotel ... In addition,
dining approach of a Windy City restau-
Parrino advanced to become one of the
rant they visited.
top three finalists in the 2013 World Food
Since its opening slightly more than two Championship held in Las Vegas.
years ago, the Root has greeted around
First place went to Chef Michael Chen,

Yellowtail Restaurant in Las
Vegas; second place to Chef
Travis Brust (last year's win-
ner) of the Williamsburg Inn
in Virginia and third in the
world competition was Chef
Joe Parrino.
READER MINI REVUE ...
From Dennis Green ... "Eight of
my college frat brothers and I
from Tau Epsilon Phi at Wayne
State University went to Huerto
in West Bloomfield. Between
the nine of us, we passed and
shared four different appetizers, bean dip,
Mexiskins, Cheese Stix and guacamole dip.
All were good and plentiful.
"We also chose nine different entrees
and combos to pass around: chicken faji-
tas, buffalo shrimp tacos, Mexican pizza,
Huerto chimichangas with beef and also
with chicken, refried beans wrapped in a
flour tortilla, flautas, came burrito platter
and chili verde.
"I had a meaty and tender rib dinner,
which I greatly enjoyed. Everything was
hot in temperature, tasty and plentiful.
All to a man agreed that we will defi-
nitely go back:'
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT.... "I
wonder how you liked the lobster at the
Clam Shop years ago, where I used to see
you a lot. My boyfriend Julius Singer, now
my husband, said he never had a better
one anywhere and the price sure was right,
too. Do you have an old menu with about
how much it was?" ... Sylvia Ellen Singer.
[I loved it when the Clam Shop was
past the railroad tracks on East Grand
Boulevard, Detroit. And, like Julius, I truly
enjoyed those luscious crawlers with the
peanut-encrusted stuffing. I had a menu
but it was lost in the Jewish News fire in
2002. I think the price I paid was $9.95
for whole lobster dinners that included
shrimp cocktail, soup, salad and coffee, tea
or milk]

MAKING ROUNDS ... To London Chop
House, Congress, Detroit, for veal Oscar ...
To Local Kitchen, West Nine Mile, Ferndale,
for house-made turkey meatloaf.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Deep
in the backwoods of Tennessee, a poor
man's wife went into labor in the middle of
the night, and the doctor was called out to
assist in the delivery.
Because there was no electricity, the
doctor handed the father-to-be a lantern
and said, "Here, you hold this high so I
can see what I am doing:'
Soon, a baby boy was brought into the
world.
"Whoa there said the doctor. "Don't be
in such a rush to put that lantern down. I
think there's another one coming:'
Sure enough, he had delivered a baby girl.
"Hold that lantern up; don't set it down.
There's another one said the doctor.
Within a few minutes he had delivered a
third baby.
"No, don't be in a hurry to put down
that lantern. It seems there's yet another
one coming; cried the doctor.
The new father scratched his head in
bewilderment and asked the doctor, "You
reckon it might be the light that's attractin'
em?"
CONGRATS ... To Adrienne Lenhoff
on her birthday ... To Elissa Miller on her
40th birthday ... To Harriett Goldman
on her 100th birthday... To Adria Brown
on her birthday ... To Ed Sosnick on his
birthday ... To Dorothy Sonne on her 90th
birthday ... To Seymour "Sy" and Pearl
Manello on their 53rd anniversary ... To
Avery and Marilyn Warnick on their 57th
anniversary ... To Merton "Mert" and
Helen Robbins on their 55th anniversary
... To Dr. Lawrence "Larry" and Barbara
Haber on their 50th anniversary ... To
Robert and Ruth Soper on their 50th anni-
versary.

❑

Danny's email is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.

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