Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 51

FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1993DETROIT FREE PRESS 13E Viewers will get no kicks on this 'Route 66' une vulgarian couple finds a happy ending in America fip 1 jrr (regula AaantXiiia. Kteatiaaf lumMMmM twia inwuni, jt than I can). The first show involves a woman (Stacy Haiduk), some thugs and several car chases. Whenever the action threatens to become interesting, it stops so the characters can have a conversation about it. "Are you lost?" "Define "When you don't know where you are and you don't know where you're going." And this: "Well, most people travel for one of two reasons.

They're going some place they've never been, or they're running for some place they've never been." Jack Kerouac's reputation is still secure. When the buddies Games Wilder is the steelworker, the ubiquitous Dan Cortese the hitchhiker) aren't yammering about Life, they're being cute. As in: "Do I gird my loins, whatever that means, and hurl myself in her direction before fate intervenes?" If you can ignore the dialogue, you will be bothered by other lapses. steelworker looks like a prep he wears a suit jacket while driving but he's a blue-collar guy. Cortese's free spirit looks like the hero, but he's 'the sidekick.

Combining equal parts Chris the "Northern Exposure" deejay and Barney Fife, he's an overwritten 'mess. Take a detour. One star. ON THE AIR: "Route 66" debuts in Detroit at 2 p.m. Saturday on WDIV-i TV, Channel 4.

Its regular time slot will be 8 p. m. Tuesdays, but it was pre-i empted this week by a Tigers baseball Thanks to a scheduling conflict (I was in grade school) I never saw the original TV series "Route 66." But it had to be better than NBC's awkward remake. "Riptide' 'was better than this rip-off. An hour of ripping up drywall is better than this.

The old "66," starring George Maharis and Martin Milner, ran for four years, fueled by the myths of the open road, bonding and a certain American existential something or other. The "66" takes all those myths and yaks about them. Endlessly. Constantly. Relentlessly.

It's two buddies in a Corvette, doing "Oprah." It's "On the Road! With Regis Kathie Lee." Think of driving from Tucson to Tumacacori with the person in the world who annoys you the most and you have some concept of this show. say this for "66." It's charac-Jter-building television. 1 The buddies on this buddy show are Nick Lewis, a steelworker from Allen-town, who goes west to inherit a Corvette from the father he never knew, and Arthur Clark, "a free-spirited hitchhiker with a passion for adventure" (the press release says it better Susan Stewart Television nnii i James Wilder, left, and Dan Cortese star in NBC's new version of the old TV series "Route 66." This one's worth steering clear of. Life's a Corvette summer Vasko and Emilia Popov, who ar rived in this country from Sofia, Bulgaria, with their two small sons just a little less than three years ago, can testify that this is truly the land of opportunity. the couple did not speak much English when they arrived.

Vasko was forced to take a job as a dishwasher, even though he had been a chef for 20 ylears in the old country. Then, with the help of some friends. they were able to open their own little restaurant, called Kessy's, in Clinton Township, where they served a menu of Bulgarian dishes as well as some American ones. i Alas, the location was so obscure it was difficult to draw a steady clientele. And when Vasko fell and broke his leg, they were forced to close.

How nice to find they ve turned up at Tres Vite in the Fox Theatre building, where Vasko prepares wonderful pastries like quince and cream cheese muffins and lemon bread, as well as granola, omelets and hash browns, for the 8:15 to 10:30 breakfast crowd. Emilia serves and describes the dishes to guests. Who better to explain her husband's cooking? Vasko is still recuperating and can not stay on his feet for long periods of time. When he does recover, he will do more extensive cooking at Tres Vite. And Emilia, who also buses tables at lunch, will become a full-fledged wait-staffer when her English improves.

Mike and Marian Ilitch, who own Tres Vite along with Jimmy Schmidt, know all about European roots. Their parents were from Macedonia. The Popovs and Hitches even attend the same church here, though they had never met until one morning when Emilia served Mike Ilitch his coffee. Both Popovs say they love their new jobs and the patrons really appreciate them. Breakfast business has increased dramatically since they've been at Tres Vite, says manager Claudia Tyagi.

I love stones with happy endings. Peony Chinese stirs things up Abraham, from Page IE pversaturated scene in that city for greater opportunity in Windsor. Everything from a complete salad bar, a choice of four soups, rice noodles Singapore style, skewered chicken and Shrimp, and slices of beef cooked by diners on the big hooded grill is there for the taking none of the above fried. Skip the fried shrimp in their heavy coats of batter and look instead for the Sichuan shrimp, perhaps a touch oily but infinitely better. Shrimp and chicken are recurring jthemes.

In its first month, the restaurant went through 1,000 pounds of Shrimp every day, along with another 1,000 pounds of chicken. It's tailed off jslightly from that point, says manager Edmond Kwok, who is the spokesman for the owners, who speak Chinese and French. i The choices are dazzling, and that's 'obviously the heart of the Peony's appeal. The old story of needing a group of at least four to sample Chinese fare suddenly doesn't hold true. You can go to the Peony alone and still taste as many of the 100 dishes as you want.

And it's fun to watch what people are choosing. Some head directly for the peel-and-eat shrimp, preferring to concentrate on what they really like. Some do likewise with mussels in the shell or barbecued ribs. Others seem to prefer the mix-and-match routine, choosing, say, egg rolls, fried rice, tiny frog legs, bean sprouts and green beans with beef, all on one plate. The other evening, one man was dining happily on ham and fried onion rings.

Yes, there is Canadian food, too. To each his own. Peony Chinese Buffet IPS NEWS when a fairly ambitious restaurant opens in the great north, and the folks in the Charlevoix-Boyne City area are buzzing about Monte Bianco, which turned up just three weeks ago at 02911 Boyne City Road. John and Mary Kelly, formerly of San Francisco, bought the old Nordic Bar, did an extensive renovation and unveiled a creative Italian menu. In the kitchen are two Thai chefs who came with the Kellys from California, Boz Jinparn and Mam Chairiuch-roen, both accomplished Italian cooks.

Their menu offers eight pasta dishes including angelhair with grilled prawns in spicy red curry sauce (one of the few Thai touches); ravioli with shrimp in basil, cream and vodka sauce; and a mixed grill of lamb chops, filet of veal and medallion of beef. Among desserts is apple "pizza" served with ice cream, and the coffee beans come from Graf-feo coffee company in San Francisco. Mary Kelly grew up in Flint, so this represents something of a return to her roots. The Kellys plan to be open year-round, with the exception of the weeks from St. Patrick's Day to May 1.

Monte Bianco serves dinner only, every day except Monday. Call 1-616-582-3341 for reservations. TIDBITS: Home Sweet Home in Novi has a good idea for Father's Day Gune 20). The restaurant will do a barbecue that day for dear old dad. If you really want to splurge for D.O.D., the Lark has a pair of special dinners coming up on June 28 and 29 with a menu that is the essence of summer.

It includes wood-grilled shrimp, buttermilk biscuits, deep-fried soft shell crab with tomato horseradish sauce, roast Maine lobster and blueberry cobbler with Mackinac Island fudge ice cream. The price is $70, exclusive of beverages, tax and gratuity. By Molly Abraham Listen to Molly Abraham with restaurant news at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday on WQRS-FM (105.1). Buffet in Windsor Others just keep making trip after trip to the steam tables set up at the back of the big, boxy room, until they finish off the meal with ice cream you dip your own from eight flavors in five-gallon tubs and little French pastries.

Ten thousand pastries a month, says Kwok. About the only things you won't find at the Peony are fortune cookies and chopsticks. The setting for all of this is a brightly lit white-painted room, bisected by two big fish tanks. Vinyl-topped tables are crowded close together, and napkins are paper. A big plus is the bright young staff, predominately Asian, who bring tea, water and soft drinks until such time as the liquor license arrives.

No parasol-topped cocktails yet. Another month, says Kwok. The staff also does a good job of clearing away used plates and quickly resetting tables. While you can undoubtedly find individual dishes of greater quality in Windsor's noted Chinese restaurants, there's no doubt that this new spot is doing a good job of filling its middle-of-the-road niche. It attracts people who are interested in value for their money, maybe not so interested in the latest trendy dish from Shanghai as they are in having the luxury of all those choices at one price.

The Chinese buffet seems to be a peculiarly Canadian phenomenon. Montreal has them. Winnipeg has them. And, of course, Toronto has a number of them, the biggest of which is the Mandarin, with eight locations in and around the city, each seating from 500 to 600. That adds up to thousands of diners each week, just in Toronto.

Can Windsor be far behind? V2 by Barry Koltnow Orange County Register Sprawled out on a concrete slab and writhing in pain from four bruised ribs, a battered lung and a sore kidney with a television cameraman gleefully recording every agonizing moment Dan Cortese probably reconsidered the notion that his career was going great. But then he got over the pain and realized that his career couldn't be better. He has his highly visible hosting duties on the weekend cable program "MTV Sports," in which he gets to be Walter Mitty and test his mettle and pain threshold against world-class athletes, and the 92 commercials he filmed in the last year for Burger King featuring his trademarked line "I love this place!" Now Cortese is embarking on another phase of an already meteoric career. His new network television show, a remake of the 1960s show "Route 66," debuts at 2 p.m. Saturday on Channel 4.

(it debuted elsewhere in the country on Tuesday, but a Tigers game delayed it in Detroit.) Cortese stars with James Wilder as wandering do-gooders who traverse the country in a Corvette, making the world safe for well, Corvettes and stuff. The network has ordered four episodes of the summer replacement series and, if the ratings show promise, it Check out for 'Route 66 "It's hard to figure where I'll be in five years because everything's happened so fast in the last few years," Cortese said. "Who would have figured this much would have already happened, so how can I guess what will happen in the future?" Back in high school, an entirely different set of circumstances seemed to await Cortese. Raised in a small town outside Pittsburgh, he was the star quarterback in an area known for star quarterbacks. This was where Joe Willie Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly honed their skills before going to fame and riches in professional football.

And Cortese looked as if he were headed in the same direction. He won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina, but one thought kept nagging at him even as he played college football: "I don't know why, but I always thought about show business," he said. "If anyone had come up to me back then and asked me if I'd rather be a motion-picture star or a pro quarterback, I would have said, 'Motion-picture "MTV Sports," which won an Emmy in its first year and is completing its second season, has evolved into a weekly fantasy show in which Cortese gets to live out the dreams of sports wannabes. He has bungee-jumped from a hot- Fridays in the QJJ ALL Dan Cortese At A Glance Orange County Register Age: 25 Marital status: Single Height: 6 feet Hometown: Sewickley, Pa. Earrings: Yes, one gold hoop Influential parents: His father was his high school principal.

You probably didn't know: Dan can't swim. How to tell Dan from Dan: The Burger King Dan wears a backward baseball cap, and the "MTV Sports" Dan wears a bandanna. How Dan describes his new TV show, "Route A cross of "Twin Peaks," "Highway to Heaven" and "Miami Vice." will return as a regular series in the fall. Of course, Cortese, 25, has trouble planning that far into the future. This is a guy who, just three years ago, was making $4.25 an hour checking IDs at a Brentwood, bar called Mom's Saloon.

Two years ago, he was making $350 a week as a gofer at the MTV office in Los Angeles and was about to lose his job to budget cutbacks. for the Capture olthe Cortese air balloon, battled the American Gladiators, boxed with actor Cuba Gooding driven in the Long Beach Grand Prix, taken batting practice with the Chicago Cubs and played quarterback at the Meadowlands in an epic football battle between two rap groups, Run-DMC and the appropriately named House of Pain. His only injuries came during a motocross race, when Cortese and his bike parted company in rather rude fashion. He was taken away in an ambulance and spent the night in a hospital. The Burger King spots started auspiciously during the 1992 World Series land have been a TV constant ever since.

In the spots, he plays the ultimate, in-your-face pitchman who ha-jrangues customers into praising the product of the fast-food hamburger i chain. He says his MTV persona is much closer to the real Dan Cortese. But Cortese says he is not seeking a persona. He doesn't want to be a pitchman or even himself. He wants to be an actor.

"That's what I came out to LA to do, and that's why 'Route 66' is so important to me. It's the first time I've had a chance to act, and I love it. This is what I want to do with my life." Of course, he hasn't wrestled alligators or raced in the Tour de France. There will always be time to act later. Free Press Wirt 3 AREAS ALL BEEFCARVER LOCATIONS Fowl Md Homi BMf Naturally PmMt this coupon to CHflitf StM 15 mMl CompMi mod omitd 6.00 Ftw tifillt on cotfto.

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yj II II 1 DETROIT REWARD MYSTERY MURDERER BARBECUED COMBO SPECIAL SPARE RIBS CHICKEN Cole Slaw, any Vegetable Apple Pie ONLY $5' Plus Tax with Coupon Now thru June 20, 1993 the cHqe House JUNE 23 Put on your Detective Caps and join us at the Chop House $90U 1 tadudw tax Itpa Jr lor a hilarious evening oi mystery, suspense and tun. Freshly Baked Bread Cash Bar Choice of One Entree: Vegetable Sit Down Dinner Prime Rib oi Beef Dinner Wine Soup du jour Broiled White Fish Coffee, Tea or Milk Salad Relish Tray Chicken Siciliano Chocolate Sundae THAN JUNE IP XicSRis CHE Houses 833-0700 Shot. Ctr. SootMari Sbof Ctr. Starling Kill.

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immtQoaMt STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE AREAS mm I Cwm Fim Oiiiiw I ir BrHtmy Hiwm Trail. Walled Lake. Ml (313) 960-9440 WINDSOR LUNCH IBQ BABT UCHJ lltStfttiBQ CHICKEN BREAST I BEEF RIBS H3 Juni ELVIS PRESLEY JR. 19, 25 1 Jl Rrt I DINNER UJ bJU rZ. HU III Ml! II LWl-1 mibf run I 110 rvu DV CHICKEN UEUi irUmtliS wn special jj ALL 840 N.

Pontlac WINDSOR TO TR 01 MEMORABLE FOOD A1MOSPHFRE UlHCMSiMhm FROM FROM STROLLING Evpsr rjy musicians SA35 SQ95 CAN. CN. To Place Your Ad Here, Please Call: 826-7081. i FARE: A series of self-serve areas offers everything from peel-and-eat shrimp and garlic spareribs to mussels with black bean sauce and Singapore-style rice noodles. There's also an array of Canadian dishes from baked ham and roast beef to fried onion rings, and French pastries and ice cream for dessert.

There are about 100 items to mix and match in all. No bar but the owners expect to serve drinks soon. ATMOSPHERE: A boxy, white-painted room seating 220 is brightly lit and sparsely decorated. Just a couple of big fish tanks in the center of the room and lots of closely packed tables. Courteous servers bring water, tea and soft drinks and take away used plates.

N0NSMOKMC: 50 percent VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY: Yes. CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes; children pay 40 cents per year of age at 70 cents per year at dinner; booster seats and high chairs. PRICE: Lunch dinner $9.95 $10.95 $11.95 CREDIT CARDS: AE, MC and Visa. HOURS: 11 a.m.-lO p.m. 11 a.m.-ll p.m.

RET: rovtiM -hit-tr net good satisfactory -tr-trirVt neeptioMl -trVi foot itir-tftr MtstWKlwf Ratings are not meant as a comparison of restaurants but as an evaluation of how well individual ones accomplish what they set out to do. Food, service and setting are all considerpd. fr See "Stamps, Coins Collectibles Every Wednesday in the Sports Section. NOISE LEVEL High. Kv it.