 JANUARY 21 • 2021 | 45

F

olks used to love going to Cedars 
of Lebanon Lounge on Columbia, 
Detroit … Customers will never for-
get the potpourri of Middle East food that 
was so exotic … as well as the wonderful 
native dancing that brought 
many stomping feet.
The food brought out 
always tickled the tongue 
with an odor of pleasing 
excellence … Like the hum-
mus with tahini …a dish that 
consisted of mashed chick-
peas and sesame seed butter 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
… lightly dusted with paprika … Dipping 
the unleavened Lebanese bread in this mar-
velous tasting spread made a perfect begin-
ning for what followed.
I remember having an entrée and several 
side dishes, including baked kibbeh, stuffed 
grape leaves, stuffed cabbage and stuffed 
squash … The entrée itself, cooked as it was 
on a skewer with chunks of green pepper, 
tomato and onion was a succulent treat.
The highly spirited native dances, 
we were told, dated back to the days of 
Solomon and Sheba, and had changed very 
little over the thousands of years that had 
passed.

ONE OF THE reasons Detroit had so 
many fine restaurants was the polyglot and 
typically American makeup of its people 
… Wherever a large and varied number of 
ethnic groups live side-by-side, restaurants 
would spring up serving exotic food pre-
pared in the fashion of the “old country” … 
Another such restaurant was the Sheik, din-
ing in the very best fashion of old Arabia … 
It took but one trip to see that the food was 
superb … The eggplant a la Sheik was deli-
cious, consisting of eggplant, rice, ground 
meat and tomato sauce.
I recall writing down the entrée, shish 
kabob, tender chunks of lamb cooked on 
a skewer but served on a platter … These 
chunks of lamb became even more tasty 
when dipped in sour cream or the hummus.
A really wondrous side dish, I wrote 
down, was the kibbeh, a ground lamb and 
wheat baked in an oven … the result was a 
cake-like goody, not sweet, but distinctive.
DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING …or 
somebody higher up? … Many restaurant 
owners are kept busy just holding their own 

paying bills or whatever … And Joe Vicari 
keeps adding to his entourage of dining 
spots … Many other eateries are busy with 
take-out or carryout or delivery service 
… as is Joe, but the Joe Vicari Restaurant 
Group also continues to work on future new 
eatery openings.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE … A visitor to 
Israel attended a concert at the Moscovitz 
Auditorium … He was quite impressed 
with the architecture and the acoustics … 
He inquired of the tour guide, “Is this mag-
nificent auditorium named after Chaim 
Moscovitz, the famous Talmudic scholar?” 
“No,
” replied the guide. “It is named after 
Sam Moscovitz, the writer.
” 
“I never heard of him. What did he 
write?” 
“
A check,
” replied the guide.
CONGRATS … To Dr. Stuart 
Kirschenbaum on his birthday … To Janet 
Sloan on her birthday. 

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

RASKIN
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist

Detroit’s Long 
History of 
Fine Middle 
Eastern Food

Hummus

Shish 

kabob

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