60 February 25 2016
EXQUISITE FOOD & EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
EpicKosher.com
Catering@EpicKosher.com
Supervised by the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit
CHOLOV YISROEL
KOSHER CUISINE
GLATT
KOSHER CUISINE
2046060
248-624-4100
$5 off
brunch
$20 purchase
minimum*
Must present coupon.
Not valid with other offers or prior
purchases. Expires 3-31-2016.
Commerce Twp. 248-624-4100
free
appetizer
with purchase
of 2 entrees*
* Valid Sun-Thurs.
Must present coupon. Not valid
with other offers or prior purchases.
Expires 3-31-2016.
Commerce Twp. 248-624-4100
A
lthough there are many
Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern
restaurants, some of them can be
classified in a category of mundane simplic-
ity.
This might be a result of their owners
coming to America as children and making
up their own versions of what they thought
to be the food they ate as youngsters.
Along, though, comes one like 2Booli
Fresh Mediterranean Eats with two loca-
tions West 12 Mile, just west of Halsted,
Farmington Hills, and East Big Beaver and
Rochester Road, Troy.
The beginning of this restaurant dream
may well have begun back in 1951 when
brothers Andrew and George Ansara came
to America from Lebanon Neither could
speak English but knew enough about the
restaurant business to want to go into it here.
However, financial institutions refused to
give them a second look And soon discov-
ered how drastically wrong they were when
the same banks eventually began to beg for
their business.
The brothers and
their families went on
to own numerous Big
Boy and Red Robin
franchises One
of them, if memory
serves me correctly,
was in the build-
ing on 15 Mile and
Orchard Lake Road,
West Bloomfield,
owned by Andrew
and George, where a Red Robin, maintained
by Lew Ansara, cousin Victor Ansara and
their families, took over at the site of Chuck
Muer
s former Bloomfield Charley
s and
Pal
s Another member of the family,
Uncle Andrew Ansara, oversaw the entire
construction, which if I recall, was much
unlike others in the Red Robin
chain, with its bright look that
included many pictures, a sort
of Hollywood motif and warm
features.
The Ansara name in the
restaurant business is a most
revered and highly honored one
with the present two 2Booli
operations owned by Andrew,
Lew, Victor and Norman
Ansara and owner/operating
officer Brian McDonnell.
The fresh taste and goodness of their
Mediterranean dishes is undoubtedly the
result of a keen knack of taking truly authen-
tic dishes and improvising in such a way that
the original is not overly tampered with but
is successful in obtaining even better results
Realized no doubt with careful thought
and experienced ingenuity No fear of
losing their delicately delightful tastes of
authenticity.
Like the blackened salmon that is prepared
in five different ways,
or an excellent kebob
platter (great for fam-
ily dinner or parties)
with its delicious
chicken kabobs, beef
kabobs, lamb kabobs
and beef kafta, served
with rice, grilled
vegetables, fattoush
salad and homemade
pita bread or the
platter just for two
or the Mediterranean pasta, which is
very lightly sauteed shrimp in a garlic and
white wine reduction, served over linguini
and topped with Kalamata olives, crumbled
feta and capers or the interesting inge-
niously tasty Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta
that includes three cultures, Italian, Greek
and Lebanese Bestseller is the
Lemon Oregano Chicken, but the
Ghallaba and Chicken Shawarma
Pita certainly do not take back
seats.
Another central point is its
open-stove oven where the pita
bread is baked fresh and served
right from the oven to the table
The bread is included with
all dishes and complements the
homemade baba ghanouj, falafels,
grape leaves, etc. Another
favored feature is its hot crushed or whole
lentil soup made daily And the salads for
which 2Booli has garnered much approval.
The Ansara families came from the
small village of Aita al-Foukhar, nestled in
the mountains of Lebanon, and those who
arrived here in America brought with them
many of the rich dining traditions of their
original homeland of which so many are
proud to enjoy.
THE LIQUOR LICENSE has been
received by Pepino
s, and the highly popular
restaurant is now open permanently in its
new home at 2440 Orchard Lake Road in
Sylvan Lake (near Keego Harbor) Same
hours, same wonderful staff Seating for
around 175 (more than before) and 17 bar
seats, about the same Maybe a few new
menu items, but the same customer all-time
favorites for sure Biggest thing, though, is
finally opening permanently so soon after the
tragic November fire.
HE JOINS A multitude of others in
enjoying the elegant cuisine provided by his
talents, but John Somerville, former chef de
cuisine at the Lark and now executive chef
of the high-powered kitchen staff at Steven
Lelli
s Inn on the Green, 12 Mile, Farmington
Hills, was seen wide-eyed while munching
on a juicy corned beef sandwich at Stage
Deli, Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield.
Stage Deli, by the way, now has owner Steve
Goldberg
s immediate family helping out pop
at the restaurant Sons Ian, manager, Perry
in the kitchen, and daughter, Jolie, hostess.
THE BUSINESS SENSE of his dad rubs
off mightily on Larry Freed, son of Lenore
and the late Jack Freed, owners with her
late father, Ray Bresler, of the former Red
Cedars on Telegraph and Apartment Lounge
on Six Mile Larry was recently elected
to the board of Mindjet/Spigit, based in San
Francisco He and wife, Laini, live in West
Bloomfield Larry and my son, Scott, are
both chief executive officers of their compa-
nies Larry of 2nd Stage Partners consult-
ing firm and Scott of Mindjet/Spigit.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE A mechanic was
removing a cylinder head from the motor of
a Harley-Davidson, when he spotted a world-
famous heart surgeon in his shop.
Hey, doc,
shouted the mechanic, can I
ask you a question?
The famous surgeon walked over to the
mechanic working on the motorcycle. The
mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands
on a rag and asked, I also can open up this
engine, take valves out, fix
em, put in new
parts, and when I finish this will work like a
new one. So how come I get a pittance and
you get the really big money when you and I
are doing basically the same work?
The surgeon smiled, leaned over and whis-
pered to the mechanic, Try doing it while it
s
still running!
CONGRATS To Jeremy Brand on
his birthday To Harry Neuman on his
birthday To Craig Martin on his birthday
(Please email birthday or anniversary
congrats to the address below with your
name and date of birthday or anniversary
for scheduling purposes Please, no phone
calls.) *
Danny
s email address is dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.
Middle-Eastern Delights
The Ansara family serves up authentic yet innovative cuisine.
Victor and Andrew Ansara
Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist
arts & life
the best of
everything