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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