magazine editors:
tony schwartz
marty porter
contributing editor:
laura berman
sundiay
YflgaGzime
inside:
books-page tour
dope thief-page five
the news in review-page five
Number 3 Page Three
INSIDE BIMBO'S:
September 30, 1973
The mai
By MARTIN PORTER
MATT CHUTICH CAN'T recall why
he was pegged with the nickname
Bimbo. Nonetheless, the nickname
stuck and this is the way most of his
friends and employes refer to him.
He's the kind of guy who doesn't
take pride in some pretentious title.
He points out that he is not above
helping out by cleaning tables -when
he is needed. But he makes no bones
about the fact that they are his res-
taurants.
Matt Chutich is the owner and
founder of the five Bimbo's now in
operation.
He is rarely to be found in the
naughahyde - furnished, wood-pan-
eled office above the Bimbo's on
Washington street. He is constantly
shuffling between his restaurants in
Ypsilanti, the Hill, and. Ann Arbor-
fixing ovens, ordering steaks, berat-
ing or encouraging a manager. The
restaurants in Pittsburgh Pa. and
Coons Rapids, Minnesota are distant
but they are just as tightly controlled.
BIMBO LEANS BACK in his chair,
puffs on his gargantuan cigar and
reflects:
"I 'started the business with the
idea of giving the people what they
wanted . . . good food, good music,
good service. I have put in too much
work to let it all go down the drain."
This is a philosophy weathered by
time and.experience. Chutich traveled
a rocky road before he opened his first
restaurant in Ann Arbor back in 1962.
Originally trained as a barber, he
got into the pizza business while he
was a student at the University of
a behind
Minnesota. After graduating he open-
ed, a series of pizza and pop palaces
in college communities ranging from
Marquette to Kalamazoo.
With a number of financial failures
left behind he arrived in Ann Arbor
planning to go to law school. Instead
he ended up opening his first restaur-
ant.
"'I don't know what happened but
somehow I ended up in another busi-
ness venture . . . I just totally forgot
about law school and took a gamble,
this time it paid off," he notes.
BUT HIS SUCCESS story has not
been a creation by some fairy
"I had. the right form-
ula .: . I created an All
A m e r i c a n atmosphere
the
name
ford to laugh. He has five restaurants
in operation and three more expected
to open within the next year. Once.
upon a time it meant tightening the
belt ; . waiting for someone to sell
him their license.
AND THEN THINGS started to click.
"I had the right formula for Ann
Arbor . . . a formula that would at-
tract the young and the old alike ...
I created an All-American atmos-
phere, people could escape to times
when life was, simpler."
But . this formula doesn't always
-work. In Ypsilanti, for example, the
plucking of 'banjos and the tenor
moaning the woes of his Wild Irish
Rose have been silenced by hard 50s'
rock and roll.
"We found out that we sold more
beer with the type of music . . . I am
not stupid, if something doesn't work
I try something else."
He is sure to mention that "we are
not solely after a youth crowd. We
have learned that the kids aren't
drinking any more, that is why we
need adults."
Between the two Bimbos in Ypsi-
lanti and Ann Arbor alone, over 3000
gallons of Schlitz on tap is con-
sumed per week.
IT WOULD SEEM that with a set up
like this Chutich would retire
more frequently to his comfortable
office. Not so.
Restaurants like the 300,000 ddllar
venture in Dearborn will be opening.
soon. And he has plans for moving
further east. "I am hoping to open
somewhere between 15-20 restaurants
that appealed
about everyone.
to just
godmother. Chutich has built his
business on a series of mistakes and
a lot of hard work.
After spending most of his money
on college banners and the other
elaborate decorations that create the
"olde tyme salloon" atmosphere at
Bimbo's, he learned that he couldn't
obtain a beer license.
"I made the stupidest mistake of
my career, I didn't realize that the
restaurant was within 500 feet of a
church, the Saltation Army is right
up the block," he says with'a sly grin.
Now eleven years later he- can af-
Mat "Bimbo" Chutich
and I plan to sell them; to some big
corporation. That is the way things
are done these days," he says.
But until that time things won't
change much for Matt Chutich.
"I have found that in business you
just can't let up one bit. You can be
king oe .day and floating down the
river the next," he explains. "There
is more then just the restaurants at
stake. Remember that's my name
that's over the doorway."
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THE SALVATION ARMY
By RICK STREICKER
IF YOU CAN coax the. women at the
Ann Arbor Salvation Army into
talking, they will ramble for hours on
end.
While sitting around a table fash-
ioning Christmas decorations for the
Veterans Hospital, they recall stories
about the days when the Salvation
Army was over a bakery on the north
side of town.
They recall the homey touches: the
smell of bread baking during the
meetings, the brass bands, the days
when there were still hitching posts
along Washington Street. Those were
the days when the Salvation Army
played an integral part in the com-
munity life of Ann Arbor.
MRS. VIRGINIA TREVITHICK, sec-
retary of the Salvation Army in
Ann Arbor, was born a block away
from the Salvation Army building.
Now they're tearing down the build-
ing she was born in. She sits in her
They remember the days
of brass bands and hitch-
ing posts on Washington
street. Those were the
days when they played an
integral part in the com-
munity.
office filled with China figurines and
Bibles, writing letters and talking.
Much of the time no one else is there
-the most frequent visitors are a
gang of young black kids who sneak,
down the stairs and try to steal her
purse. Now Mrs. Trevithick leaves an
empty purse on the counter.
But after sitting in the Army's of-
fice for awhile, you're bound to see
some action.
TWO GIRLS COME in. Dressed in
blue jeans and work shirts, they
explain that they're passing through
on their way out west. They're hitch-
hiking and they need a meal.
Mrs. Trevithick adjusts her pince-
nez and 'begins questioning the girls.
Name? Age? Home Address? Destina-
rbors old
THIS IS JUST the right question to slide s]
ask Mrs. Trevithick. She responds spun
with pride, "We're a Protestant de- service;
nomination. Our members are called Ladies'
Salvationists. And we believe in help- the St
ing." camp.
Curidusly, the girls stay around for of thin
a slide presentation put together by girls h:
Colonel Harold Crowell, the Army's Talki
time
how with the Colonel's home-
narration, telling about the
s of the Salvation Army: the
Home League, the Girls' Club,
unday Services, the summer
Good works, but not the kind
g to turn on nineteen-year-old
itchhiking to California.
ng to Captain Paul Wilson, the
r in Ann Arbor, is like taking
re liglon
a short course in the evils of man-
kind. "The Salvation Army isn't like
the welfare department -- it has no
set of rules or qualification which al-
low it to turn people away," he says.
People come to the Captain with any
kind of problem: alcoholism, broken
or breaking homes, unwanted preg-
nancies. And it's up to the Captain to
do something . . . anything.
BUT THE SALVATION Army is as
notable for what it hasn't been
able to do as for what it has. For
the Salvation Army building at Fifth
and Washington gets less and less,
use as the years roll by. People no
longer live within walking distance.
Students from the University seldom
find their way over to receive the
Army's blend of old-fashioned charity
and old-time religion. The tradition-
public relations man. It's a homemade
minist6i
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The more you eat,.
the highryoug
By JODY JOSEPH 1 cup sugar
Today's lesson is entitled: An 2 eggs, unbeaten
Introduction to Consciousness-Ex- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
panding Cookery. Before we begin, pinch of salt
however, let us outline and discuss 1 teaspoon vanilla
a few basics designed to encourage 1/2 cup walnuts
healthy attitudes towards culinary the mnarijuana
crafts. some raisins
some jimmies (Jimmies are thos
A few basics little candy things used to decorat
The A-number one rule of cook- cakes and stuff like that - yc
ing is: Food is fun. Remember that know, those hard silver balls. an
and you can't go wrong. Let's take red-hot balls and tiny colore
a simple example: Whip up a batch sprinkles. The last few things ar
of chocolate frosting (packaged va- the key to masking the marijuana
riety wiflfdo nicely). Get drunk and aftertaste. Use lots of them).
get somebody else drunk with you. Now, spread the junk in pan (9
Now, get naked and finger paint x 9"), which, being farsighted cook
on each others' bodies with the -you have already buttered. Bak
frosting.' (For variety and color, until dry on top and firm to th
try mixing up some white frosting touch - somewhere around 30-3
too. Divide it up and add food col- minutes.. Cool, cut up and ea
oring - great stuff to have around; (Helpful Hint No. 2 - Don't stuf
try green mayonnaise on your next your face just because you don'
sandwich - for different colors.) get high right away. It takes abou
Fun huh? So, that's just an exam- an hour or two to ge off.)
ple. Use your imagination and re-
member, good things to eat don't You say you're thirs
always come off a plate. Good cooks always include
In case your imagination isn't thirst quencher on their snac
taking you very far, here's a recipie menu. Here's a sure crowd please]
that will take you places you never ECLECTIC KOOL-AID
dreamed you could go. I call it my
T-Group Special - something You will need:
light and just right for your next Some psychedelics (LSD, mesca
encounter (especially recommend- line, etc. This is a good chance t
ed for.Psych 192 Weekend T-Group. get rid of all your leftovers. So, fe
What to make and How to do it 14 free to throw in that organic mes
ALICE B. TOKLAS BROWNIES you have left over from last Ne
To start with, you will need to Year's Eve together with that ha]
preheat the oven to 3000. Do it now. tab of orange sunshine someon
Next, you will need: laid on you at the Blues and Jaz
1-2 lids of medium good mari- Festival).
juana (the .more, the better). Pre-sweetened Kool-Aid - you
juan (te .mrefavorite flavor (Also, you can us
Baking with marijuana is a deli- fanoite fr(Atju cas).
cate art and there is raging con- any of the fruit juices).
troversy over just how to deal with Now, the important things to re
the stuff. So, use up your crumby member here are: 1) Watch you
dope and save that bomb Jamaican proportions. Remember the numbe
for smoking. For best results, strain of people and plan accordingly. 2
your dope twice. (Kitchen strainers You must make sure the drugs ar
work nicely, of course, but for those in complete powder form. Don
of you stuck in the dorms, your just try to dissolve them - it won
window screen will suffice.) If your work. Crush up tabs (before yo
have particularly dirty dope, strain mix your drinks) with a mortar an
until all the garbage is gone. (Help- pestle or any other ingenious wa
ful Hint No. 1 - Don't throw away 3) Mix everything well and divid
the garbage. Smoke it.) equally. Remember, drink absolute
the arbae. Soke t.)ly all the Kool-Aid - waste nol
Okay, here's where your prob- wantenot,
lems start. Aside from its other vir- want no.
tues, marijuana, as we. all know, The end
poses one major problem to cooks
-it tastes terrible. Thus some eat- Well, that's ill for today. Wat
er-users suggest frying up the dope for future columns with such ex
before baking. If you believe this citing features as: Cooking Fles
old head's tale, just be careful- The Oy Vay Dinner, The Mamm
burnt dope is bad business. For you Mia Munchers, Hamboggieburge
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"We've got to go where
the . people are . . . We've
got to reach out to more
people," Captain Wilson
explains.
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ally white Salvation Army is now
running several programs for black
children, but the tensions are show-
ing and instances of vandalism are
frequent.
The Salvation Army still has its
own congregation made up mostly of
lifelong members from old Ann Arbor
Salvationist families. They still field
a brass band. But the congregation
has dwindled in recent years.
As a result, the Army is considering
a new church and social center in a
more residential part. of town.
"We've got to go where the people
are . . . We've got to reach out to more
people," Captain Wilson explains.
IT WOULD BE a new experience for
the Army, leaving the old estab-
lished part of Ann Arbor and reach-
ing out to the people in the housing
subdivisions.
Colonel Crowell puts it another
way: "You have to realize that we're
talking about the glory of God, not
imet aohut frPP mea Von cn't
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