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High Steaks!
Clawson Steak House is a huge favorite on 57th birthday.
T
hey came here from Greece after
ownership of a butcher shop and
restaurant in their little village.
This was the wonderful America that
brothers Paul and Gregory Alexopoulos had
heard and read so much about ... However,
no one told them that America has fires just
like anywhere else.
The restaurant they had opened in 1958
and called Clawson Lounge had one of those
fires ... but the brothers showed that great
Greek fortitude and determination by bounc-
ing back ... and reopening in 1988 under a
new name ... Clawson Steak House, South
Rochester Road, corner of 14 Mile, Clawson
... celebrating its 57th anniversary.
Getting off on the right foot was soon after
its reopening with the hiring of Jim Polk as
executive chef that 22 years later has turned
out to be a genius-like move ... Experienced
from Beverly Hills Grill, Norman's Eton
Street Station and Golden Mushroom, the
latter where he watched Master Chef Milos
Cihelka and also became most adept in the
butchering skill he applies now at Clawson
Steak House ... Polk's wife, Jodie, makes four
of the six luscious pastry selections available
on the dessert menu.
Clawson Steak House, now owned solely
by Gregory's son Jim Alexopoulos, has been
known by some to be a "dining sleeper" ...
Probably because many of those who go
there keep their knowledge of it
much to themselves ... Jim's wife,
Kim, is the restaurant's banquet
manager and a daily prescence at
lunchtime.
However, the Saturday evening
I was there, you would think that
everybody knew about Clawson
Steak House ... It was very
crowded, and people obviously
chose to wait in line because of
the experience they knew they
would enjoy.
Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11
a.m.-2 a.m. ... Reservations of five or more
only are accepted on Friday and Saturday
evenings, but any size during the other four
days.
Clawson Steak House is one of the better
dining spots that gives both soup and salad
plus a side dish and basket of warm home-
made rolls with its meals.
Examples of Chef Polk's dining gems are
among some of his favorites ... Jim's largely
wanted stuffed salmon, with a filling of
spinach, artichokes and crab, that is a regular
special, and those beautiful charbroiled racks
of lamb chops are also among the most-
ordered food selections ... Baby back ribs,
chopped sirloin, steer liver with onions, 14-
oz. sirloin, 30-oz. porterhouse, etc.
His weekly food buys are not skimpy ...
120 lbs. of chicken, 50 lbs. of
salmon filets, 50 lbs. of steer
liver, 40 lbs. of frog legs, 60 lbs.
of whitefish, etc.
Seating is for 225 in the din-
ing room, 40 in a lounge area,
and 20 bar stools ... Dancing
and live entertainment by
the fine Mark James Band,
Wednesdays through Saturdays
... Its servers have obviously
been trained in high customer
satisfaction, and it is so good to
Jim and Kim Alexopoulos and Executive Chef Jim Polk see a dance floor in front of the
PRIME29
STEAKS • SEAFOOD • COCKTAILS
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Thursday Is The New Friday
Live Entertainment Every Thursday at 8:00pm
6545 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD. WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI 48322
(SE CORNER OF MAPLE & ORCHARD LAKE, NEXT TO PLUM MARKET
WWW.PRIME29STEAKHOUSE.COM 248.73.PRIME (77463)
52
March 12 • 2015
JN
diners who enjoy watching the
terpsi-twirling folks.
If you want to tell customers
that Clawson Steak House is
a "sleeper; make sure it isn't
someone who will laugh in your
face ... Those who have been
there certainly know differently.
BIG SEAFOOD DOINGS
are bringing people in for its
big Coastal Cuisine menu now
through April 4 at all nine local
Andiamo restaurants ... Scottish
salmon, scallops, crab-stuffed shrimp,
whitefish almandine, jumbo shrimp, lobster
tail and twin roasted lobster tails ... all also
including side dishes ... $22.50 to $48.95.
Corporate Chef Jim Oppat's buys for
this dining event include 4,000 pounds of
Scottish salmon, 1,500 pounds of shrimp,
between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds of lobster
tails, 2,000 pounds of Great Lakes whitefish
and 1,000 pounds of sea scallops ... almost
12,000 pounds of seafood.
RECENTLY OPENED Crave Ferndale,
Woodward just south of Nine Mile, has
become a place to enjoy and be seen ... Its
American menu and sushi bar go over big ...
Crave Dearborn is now used strictly for pri-
vate parties and events ... The Ferndale site
is now also open for brunch on Saturday and
Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
READER MINI REVIEW ... from Dennis
Silber ... "Debbie and I recently dined at City
Fish Market with former Detroiters Carol
and Sam Sobel and Leslie and Denny Rogers.
City Fish Market has been a mainstay here
in Boca Raton for several years, offering the
full gamut of fresh fish that day in a choice
of individual sizes or whole fish portions for
sharing, each of which are available sauteed
in lemon or butter, broiled or blackened.
"Each of us tried our own selection of sau-
teed yellow fin snapper, Atlantic mahi-mahi,
swordfish and black grouper. Especially tasty
was the snapper prepared Hong Kong-style
with sherry soy, scallions, ginger, spinach
atop jasmine rice, and the Atlantic swordfish
"pepper steak" in a cracked pepper crust,
portobello mushrooms and topped with
brandy peppercorn.
"Our appetizers began with an oyster
selection from Maine and colossal lump crab
— enough for sharing by all, lump crab frit-
ters with a spicy remoulade sauce and cala-
mari in garlic aioli/marinara sauce. Our side
dishes were creative and delicious, vegetables
in saute or steamed, creamy whipped pota-
toes and jumbo sweet potatoes. The menu is
incomparable, and our experience certainly
invited return visits':
IT'S THE FIRST spring training Jewish
Heritage Day hosted by the Florida Marlins
and pits them against the Minnesota Twins
in nearby Jupiter, at the Marlin's Roger Dean
Stadium ... And you can be sure that tickets
are in the hands of Irwin Cohen, local author
and historian, whose latest book, Jewish
History in the Time of Baseball's Jews, is his
10th tome ... Irwin and wife, Davida, win-
tering in West Palm Beach, are thrilled, too,
that a kosher food stand will also be available.
No doubt they'll also visit the new first-
ever kosher restaurant in West Palm Beach,
Pita King, under supervision of Florida's ORB
(Orthodox Rabbinical Board).
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... The anti-
Semitic head of his country, not feeling well
and concerned about his mortality, visits a
psychic about the date of his death.
Closing her eyes and silently reaching into
the realm of the future, she finds the answer.
"You will die on a Jewish holiday:"
"Which one?" the Arab asks.
"It doesn't matter; said the psychic.
"Whenever you die, it'll be a Jewish holiday:"
CONGRATS ... To Jack Simon on his 80th
birthday ... To Jeannie Simon on her 80th
birthday.
❑
Danny's email address is
dannyraskin®sbcglobaLnet.