arts & entertainment >> the best of everything 'I'll Buy!' Royal Oak's Mt. Chalet hitting casual dining home runs. I n the late 1980s, after their softball modernistic touch ... which game, the Durst Lumber team many was done ... Three large, par- times would go to the little neighbor- titioned windows now face hood bar for perhaps a bowl of chili and a Woodward ... The walls and burger. wooden floor, etc., have been First baseman Harvey Berman often changed ... and only that origi- jokingly asked the owner if he wanted nal ceiling remains. to sell the place, and the answer would An outdoor patio was added always be, "No" ... Until one day, the three years ago seating 40 ... owner asked, "Are you kidding?" bringing a total that includes And Harvey then became a restaurateur 65 more in the main room and ... owner of Mt. Chalet on the southwest 12 stools at a well-stocked bar. corner of Woodward and 14 Mile Road, Nothing pretentious about Royal Oak, that had been there about 80 Mt. Chalet ... in its upscale years ... Then, a broken-down bar with no version of yesteryears ... Comfortable ... windows, seedy-looking ceiling and walls, and far from being the shot-and-a-beer etc. ... But one that Harvey and the boys place that used to be. enjoyed so much. The former burger and very short menu It is 21 years since Harvey and his sister was upgraded to include 12 appetiz- Annette Berman took over ... He knew ers, five salads, soups, eight sandwiches absolutely nothing about the bar or restau- from a Reuben to chicken cordon bleu to rant business ... Harvey and his cousins Philly cheese steak, etc. ... plus entrees were operating the family's Mastercraft that include shrimp and chicken pasta, Leather Co., which took up all his time. whitefish and shrimp, etc. ... Even gour- Annette, who did some bookkeeping for met sliders served with French fries ... the leather company, had been a waitress Piedmontese, cod, ahi tuna, etc. at a restaurant in Keego Harbor and as Wouldn't be the same without chili, the new co-partner, was immediately put said by many to be better than before, in charge to run Mt. and burgers that folks Chalet. can now build as they In 1999, Harvey and like them ... plus daily Annette gutted the specials on both food place with its dingy and drink ... all bearing look of no windows, the label of home-style sloping floor, dull walls, goodness. etc. ... Three drop ceil- Extremely popular ings were removed and, items are the New York lo and behold, there strip, Maurice salad, was the original ceiling New England gumbo, that years ago had been mac 'n' cheese and burg- Brother and sister Harvey damaged. ers. Berman and Annette Berman The look of today's "Our Mt. Chalet is Mt. Chalet is somewhat now a cozy, comfortable, versatile, homey and fun environment:' of a replica of that little bar but certainly not with its former limited food menu said Annette. "It is a bar/restaurant where ... The brother and sister wanted to keep people just keep wanting to come back to. the appearance, however, with a heavy Over decades, since built in the 1900s, it Book one 01 our has quietly become legendary" It is open seven days a week ... Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sundays, noon- midnight. In Mt. Chalet, Harvey and Annette Berman have done a wonderful job in giving so many people the type of clean bar/restaurant they have long searched for and look upon as their own discovery. MORE EVIDENCE of "food" blood flowing in the family veins is the lineage of young gentleman Noah Dorfman, whose Torino restaurant in Ferndale was named Detroit Free Press 2014 Restaurant of the Year and is highly touted by the Detroit News and Crain's ... His father, Joel Dorfman, and late mother, Carol, were owners of Thorn Apple Valley ... Noah's late grandparents Henry and Mala Dorfman founded Thorn Apple Valley. ANOTHER ALWAYS TERRIFIC ... Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf Invitational is this coming Monday, June 9, at Franklin Hills Country Club, Farmington Hills ... You can attend just the dinner and sports panel following golf, with honoree Tony La Russa and others answering questions and giving some fun repartee ... And if his schedule permits, former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leland says that he will hopefully be there with his very close friend and former fellow World Series manager La Russa. David Blatt, executive director of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, big daddy of the charitable Hank Greenberg Golf Invitational and Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, is the new assistant coach of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. What? ... 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