JANUARY 23 • 2020 | 53
the best of everything
Raskin
Beans & Cornbread continues to earn
accolades as it enters its 23rd year.
Soul Food Mecca
I
nto its 23rd year is one of
Michigan’
s top soul food
restaurants … as acclaimed
recently in GQ magazine along
with other highly esteemed pub-
lications.
And the list of celebrities
continually
grows as Beans
& Cornbread,
Sunset Strip,
Northwestern
Highway,
between 12 Mile
and Inkster,
Southfield, is
where so many make regular
dining visitations … Laurence
Fishburne, Matthew Stafford,
Barry Sanders, Shaquille O’
Neal,
Stevie Wonder, etc., in a list
that would take up a couple of
columns … The late Aretha
Franklin and many others called
it their second home.
Since before it opened in
1997, owner Patrick Coleman
always wanted his own soul food
restaurant … Year after year,
he keeps taking it to another
award-winning high standard …
from traditional to modern orig-
inations in soul food culinary
experiences … and a wonderful
dining delight… with specialties
like tempura shrimp, lobster,
fried okra, vegetarian Sloppy
Joes with garnished sautéed
onions … down-home Southern
fried chicken to catfish fillets to
baby back ribs to juicy steaks, to
salmon croquettes, etc. …
Beans & Cornbread bakes its
own cornbread, sweet potato
muffins, etc. … including a
luscious peach cobbler, among
other goodies.
To say that Patrick knows
his food is putting it mildly …
The one-time former manager
and general manager of pres-
tigious restaurants, who also
was spokesman at one time for
Lawry Seasoned Salt, is noted,
too, for his varied ways of soul
food cooking and presentations
without the high prices that are
asked for by many soul food
restaurant operations the nation
over.
Beans & Cornbread is open
seven days for lunch and din-
ner … Sunday-Thursday, 11
a.m.-9 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-10
p.m., Saturday, noon-10 p.m. …
Seating is for around 70 in the
dining room and 18 at the bar
… Sundays also includes brunch
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Going into its 23rd year
certainly tells something about
Beans & Cornbread … It is
everything a good soul food
restaurant should be … and
then some … Don’
t be fright-
ened by all the cars that may be
there … Most of the folks who
own them know a good thing
when they enjoy the food at
Beans & Cornbread.
I REMEMBER …From
William Ruskin … “Lieberman’
s
Delicatessen on Dexter and
Waverly. It would put out the
back door an empty pickle
barrel at least once a week and
you could smell it almost a half-
block away.
”
OLDIE BUT GOODIE
… A cop pulls a car over and
informs the driver that he had
just entered him in a safety
contest that encourages drivers
to wear seat belts … The cop
explained that if the man won,
he would receive $50,000 but
as a runner-up he would get at
least $5,000.
“What are you going to do
with all that money?” asked the
cop.
“Well,
” said the driver, “I
guess I’
m going to get a driver’
s
license.
”
“
Oh, don’
t listen to him,
” said
his wife. “He’
s always a smart
aleck when he’
s been drinking.
”
CONGRATS … To Dr. Stuart
Kirschenbaum on his birthday…
To Jim Hiller on his birthday…
To Barbara Cohen on her birth-
day.
Danny’
s email address is
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.
Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist
VIA BEANS & CORNBREAD FACEBOOK
Patrick Coleman
COURTESY OF BEANS & CORNBREAD
Reservations at www.thewhitney.com
(313) 832-5700
2020
T
HE
WHI
T
NE
Y
Afternoon Tea
Elegant Four Course
Tea Luncheon
Everyday at
2:00pm