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the best of everything

niversary

Casual Goodness …
And More To Come

Danny Raskin

Senior Columnist

Rusty
Bucket chain
celebrates
15 years.

Gary Callicoat

If the late movie actor
Cameron Mitchell were alive
today, his name would no
doubt be wrongfully added to
the list of film stars like Robert
De Niro, George Clooney,
Kate Hudson, Mark Wahlberg,
Sandra Bulloch, Drew
Barrymore, Clint Eastwood,
etc., who now have their hands
in the restaurant business.
But thankfully, there is anoth-
er real live Cameron Mitchell …
who, plus being a fine restaura-
teur himself, may be among the
reasons why good friend Gary
Callicoat and his Rusty Bucket
chain is in existence among
the nation’s top casual eatery
chains serving comfort food.
Mitchell and Callicoat met
while both were in manage-
ment positions with a former
group of restaurants before it
folded … They became friends,
with the Rusty Bucket head
joining Mitchell in 1999 and
becoming general manager of
his Mitchell’s Martini Italian
restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
When 2002 arrived, Gary
Callicoat opened his own first
Rusty Bucket in Dublin, Ohio,
serving comfort food and a
large selection of draft beer …
Cameron Mitchell was one of
his investors.
That initial Rusty Bucket
with food items to serve the
entire family has grown to 24
units in six states, with more
slated to come … Of the present
24, four are in the northwest

sectors of Metropolitan Detroit
… Bingham Farms (Telegraph,
south of 13 Mile), Bloomfield
Hills (Woodward, south of
Square Lake Road) and two in
Northville (Traditions Drive,
corner of Haggerty and Seven
Mile), and Sheldon Road, north
of 5 Mile) … Plans call for more
Rusty Buckets to open in varied
sectors of the country … I was
impressed with the cleanli-
ness and was quickly told that
Callicoat is a stickler on this …
along with something that not
enough chain restaurants pres-
ent … food prepared fresh daily
from scratch … vegetarian and
gluten-free included.
This sometimes “lost art” of
food preparation among many
restaurant chains is much
appreciated, as is a daily listing
of the week’s special food offer-
ings and children’s menu along
with a regular bill-of-fare and
one for varied liquid refresh-
ments.
A notable record for a one-
time 15-year-old dishwasher
whose ascendency in the res-
taurant industry is a credit to
Callicoat’s rapid rise to comfort
food dining success … On this,
only Rusty Bucket’s short 15th
anniversary year, it continues
to receive lauding … The lat-
est is being honored as one of
the top 50 restaurant chains by
FSR (Food Service Restaurant)
magazine.
Certainly a success story of
Rusty Bucket’s founder and

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president Gary Callicoat, who
became his own star.
REARVIEW MIRROR …
Sammy Lieberman saw a dream
come true when the Raleigh
House general manager and
vice president watched with big
cigar and smile at the opening
of the restaurants in it, House
of Lords for gourmet dining
and Lion’s Head English style
pub … Then two days later, its
Piccadilly Delicatessen run by
George Fink. But then came a
huge disappointment … One
that only a few people knew
about … and to this day is still
a mystery … Why a planned
12-story, 300-room hotel on the
same property was never built.
DATES TO REMEMBER …
If you missed former localite
Lisa Klein and her documen-
tary The S Word, she’ll be back
showing it Wednesday, Nov. 8,
at the Maple Theater in West
Bloomfield, and in Ann Arbor
on Friday, Nov. 10.
David Syme and his flying
fingers on the piano beauti-
fully strumming the 88 keys on
a magnificent array of tunes
… Thursday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m. at
the West Bloomfield Jewish
Community Center’s Berman
Theater for The Performing
Arts … Call Leslie Katz, director
of Friends of Jewish Life, (248)
592-5062 for tickets … David is
a real treat!
OLDIE BUT GOODIE …
(Reprinted by huge request)
… For their 70th anniversary,

a man wants to buy his wife
the most sheer lingerie he can
find. The saleswoman leaves
and brings out an outfit.
“This is $200,” she says.
“I want one that’s more
sheer,” says the fellow.
She brings out another one
and says, “This is $350.”
“I want it even more sheer
than that.”
“This is the most sheer that
we have. It’s $500.”
“I’ll take it!”
The man goes home to his
wife and gives it to her, saying,
“Put this on and come down to
model it for me.”
His wife goes upstairs, opens
the box and thinks, “This thing
is so see-through that he won’t
even know if I’m wearing it or
not! I can take this back for a
refund and he won’t know the
difference.”
His wife comes out wear-
ing nothing at all and strikes
a pose at the top of the stairs,
“So how do you like this?” she
asks.
“Darn it,” he says. “You’d
think for $500 they’d iron the
darn thing!”
CONGRATS … To Jay Parr
on his birthday … To David
Wechsler on his birthday … To
Amy Wechsler on her birthday
… To Larry Dictor on his birth-
day •

Danny’s email address is
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

Fine Italian Dining in a Casual Atmosphere

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Sunday, November 5 through Thursday, November 9

$ 22.95

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salad, soup, potato and vegetable.
Dine-in only, not valid with any other offer.

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just east of Farmington Rd., West Bloomfield

Mon-Thurs: 4pm-10pmtFri: 11am-11pm
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jn

November 2 • 2017

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