RASKIN
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

APRIL 15 • 2021 | 53

T

here once was a
restaurant on Connor,
Detroit, umpteen years
ago, where you may have had
or witnessed very strange
food for con-
sumption … It
was named A-Z
Safari Land and
featured wild
game dinners
… like broiled
boa constrictor,
African lion
steaks and alligator tails, etc.
Its storeroom shelves were
filled with “goodies” from
the African veldt, but even
though the preparations were
excellent, I never did rec-
ommend it for the timid …
And it also had an American
menu for the faint-hearted.
For the adventurous, a
good dinner started with
fresh baby bees in drawn but-
ter … For your entrée, you
might choose the iguana din-

ner … with an
absolute three-
days’ notice
…If iguana
did not fit
your mood,
you could
choose the
stuffed dia-
mondback
rattlesnake, breast of crow or
monkey with fingers.
For an exotic dessert, a
suggestion there was the
chocolate-covered ants.
It was owned by a hus-
band-and-wife host and
hostess … She handled the
kitchen, and he ran the ser-
vice and was a sometime
provider of the exotic food
… He sometimes traveled
all over the world … and
pointed out that all the food
served at A-Z Safari Land
was passed by state health
inspectors … Many people
came just to see the food …
and had terrific sirloin steaks
… cooked from choice meat

… of a cow.
OLDIE BUT
GOODIE … (2nd
repeat version) …
Once upon a time,
a king relied so
much on the wis-
dom of his Jewish
adviser that he
decided to elevate
him to head adviser
… The other advisers object-
ed … It was bad enough to
sit in council with a Jew, but
to allow one to lord over
them was just too much to
bear.
Being a passionate ruler,
the king agreed with them,
and ordered the Jew to con-
vert … As soon as the act
was done, the Jew felt great
remorse for this terrible
decision … As days became
weeks, his remorse turned to
despondency, and as months
passed, his mental depres-
sion took its toll, and he
became weaker and weaker
… Finally, he could stand it

no longer. He burst in on the
king and cried, “I was born a
Jew and a Jew and I must die.
Do what you want with me,
but I can no longer deny my
faith.”
The king had no idea that
the Jew felt so strongly about
it. … “Well, if that is how you
feel,” he said, “your counsel is
much too important to me to
do without, go and be a Jew
again.”
The Jew felt elated … He
hurried back home feeling
the strength surge back
into his body as he ran …
Finally, he burst into the
house and called out to his
wife, “Sarah! Sarah! We can
be Jews again!”
His wife glared back at him
angrily and said, “What! You
couldn’t wait until after the
High Holidays?”
CONGRATS … To Sarah
Metzger on her birthday.

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

Danny
Raskin
Senior Columnist

A ‘Wild’ Dining
Spot from
Yesteryear
Thankfully, elephant was never on the menu at A-Z
Safari Land.

WORTHPOINT

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