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the best of everything

Steven Lelli’s
Tribute

Hundreds come to enjoy
Checker Bar-B-Q favorites.

Danny Raskin

Senior Columnist

Mark Zarkin

He thought the big problem
could be solved by having three
seatings, but Mark Zarkin, owner
of Steven Lelli’s Inn On The
Green, 12 Mile, west of Halsted,
Farmington Hills, vastly under-
estimated the huge popularity
of the years ago former Checker
Bar-B-Q favorite of his and so
many other devotees.
It began with a semblance of
normalcy but wound up with
oodles of people lined up at the
doors and lobby … Result was
more than 580 people in the
restaurant room’s enclosed patio
… one table of 39 from Grosse
Pointe … a table of 25 judges
from everywhere … People galore
eating from aluminum trays
filled with food items from 30
cases of baby back ribs, 28 cases
of regular large ribs, 525 pounds
of chicken, 25 pounds of cole
slaw, 490 loaves of garlic bread,
six large cases of shrimp, oodles
of other barbecued meat for
those who didn’t eat ribs … corn-
on-the-cob for everyone, etc.
Servers without the usual tux-
edos … Simple white shirts and
dark pants by the men and plain
dress for the gals … Server Sandy
Tennenbaum typified the infor-
mality by wearing suspenders
over his shirt … No ties … very
casual … large rolls of brown
paper on the tables to casually
wipe hands and fingers of diners
… 100 gallons of regular barbe-

cue sauce … 11 gallons of hot
sauce … 12 cases of corn … 300
whole pizzas … etc.
“What a night!” Mark said. “All
the wonderful people on an eve-
ning to remember! Thanks loads
to everyone who had as much
enjoyment and remembrance in
joining us for this festive evening
in tribute to a great Checker Bar-
B-Q of yesterdays.”
LONG-AWAITED OPENING
to the public of the Station
Square Kitchen & Bar in Troy
came this past Monday … The
250-seat restaurant plus outdoor
large patio on Coolidge and
Maple was a former Papa Vino.
RUMORS THAT Matt
Prentice will take over former
Plaza Deli,
Northwestern Highway,
Southfield, are not true yet … He
was seen there with a contractor
to discuss costs of renovating it
… Plaza is one of three venues
seriously being considered by
Matt when he returns to the
dining fold on or after Oct. 21,
but would be the most expen-
sive because it might have to be
completely gutted … Nothing
has been signed … He will soon
choose one of the three venues.
MAIL DEPT. … From Jerry
Selicchia … “We have found
that one of the latest restaurant
crazes is happy hour times when
offering menus and lower prices
on cocktails. Among the bet-

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ter ones is Ruth’s Chris in Troy.
My wife, Doreen, and I recently
joined Bob and Sandy Bean of
Lake Orion, and Heather Howitt
from Windsor.
“Ruth’s Chris starts with
house-made potato chips, a fine
complement with our drinks.
Doreen had the steak sandwich
with hand-cut seasoned fries and
a house-made béarnaise sauce.
I enjoyed a bleu cheeseburger
with fries. Sandy selected spicy
shrimp, lightly fried and tossed in
a cream sauce. Bob savored the
roasted artisan marinated chick-
en breast sandwich featuring
cilantro, brie cheese, and served
with a fresh berry and arugula
salad. Heather opted for Crabs
Beignets with jalapeno, cream
cheese and a tangy cucumber
salad. Bill enjoyed his seared ahi.
“The Howitts said that
Windsor restaurants don’t have
happy hours. This is a standard
stop for Doreen and me.”
FEW RESTAURANT
OPERATIONS have been the
producer of as many close friend-
ships as dear as that of Norm and
Bonnie Lepage, and Sameer and
Leila Eid … The close friendship
of more than 30 years shared by
Norman and Bonnie, Big Rock
Chophouse, Birmingham, and
Sameer and Leila Eid, Phoenicia,
Birmingham, is a strong one …
With both continuing to meet
and eat frequently at the respec-

N OT T I N G H I L L

of W EST B LOOMFIELD

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

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tive eateries owned by one
another … along with taking
many trips together … Mexico
and Beirut, among many des-
tinations … Their sons, Scott
Lepage and Samy Eid, follow in
their parents’ footsteps by also
being close and spending holi-
days together.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE … An
old country doctor went way out
to the boondocks to deliver a
baby. It was so far out that there
was no electricity. When the doc-
tor arrived, no one was home
except for the laboring mother
and her 5-year-old son.
The doctor instructed the
child to hold the lantern high
so he could see while he helped
the woman deliver the baby. The
child did so, the mother pushed
and after little while the doctor
lifted the newborn baby by the
feet and spanked him on the bot-
tom to get him to take his first
breath.
“Hit him again,” the child said.
“He shouldn’t have crawled up
there in the first place!”
CONGRATS … To Jerry Naftaly
on his birthday … To Sandy
Noble on her birthday … To Jerry
and Marsha Moss on their 58th
anniversary …To Howard and
Susan Levin on their 54th anni-
versary. •

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June 21 • 2018

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