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to Detroit because we have a rich
history of fine dining with French
techniques,” Grosz said. “At Cuisine,
you’ll see items on the menu that have
techniques that date back hundreds of
years. I use contemporary ingredients
and flavor combinations with these
treasured techniques.”
Chef Mary Brady of Diamond Jim
Brady Bistro in Novi said, “American
chef Julia Child, who I had the plea-
sure of meeting, was an inspiration to
me. She taught us French cooking, in
an approachable style.”
Brady was the second woman in
the state of Michigan to become a
Certified Executive Chef through the
American Culinary Federation (ACF).
Now, she mentors other woman chefs.
When Schmidt traveled to France,
he “fell in love with food and wine,”
taking classes with Madeleine
Kamman at University of Aix en
Provence. He followed Kamman (“my
cooking mother”) to a Boston restau-
rant.
The London Chop House, a land-
mark restaurant in Downtown Detroit
for decades, is where Schmidt landed
his first job as an executive chef.
“It was a vibrant economy, and
executives lived life well — it was the
three-martini era,” recalled Schmidt,
who provided a lot of history for the
film. “People were spending $80-$100
for lunch between 1977-85 at The
Chop.”
After a much-honored cooking
career, Schmidt does pop-up din-
ners with his wife, and he recently
launched a company that develops the
technology for creating new products
to boost food nutrition.

THE CORE OF THE FILM
Famie said the core of his film is
remembering “the early immigrant
chefs who brought with them from
their homelands their style of cooking,
as well as a professional, highly inten-
sive expectation of kitchen leadership.”
Certified Master Chef Milos Cielka
in the film was the chef-partner at
the late, great Golden Mushroom in

Certified Executive Chef Paul Grosz with staff at Cuisine

Chef Jimmy Schmidt of
the former Rattlesnake
Club

An array of chefs: Greg Upsure, Keith Famie,
Steve Allen, Milos Cielka and Brian Polcyn.

Chef Takashi
Yagihashi of
the former
Tribute
restaurant

Certified Master Chef
Milos Cielka

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OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER