{"id":1862,"date":"2014-07-27T08:10:32","date_gmt":"2014-07-27T15:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=1862"},"modified":"2014-07-27T08:12:48","modified_gmt":"2014-07-27T15:12:48","slug":"lellis-inn-offers-classic-meal-timeless-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/lifestyle\/1862\/lellis-inn-offers-classic-meal-timeless-service","title":{"rendered":"Lelli’s Inn Offers Classic Meal, Timeless Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The piano at “Rick’s” played an important supporting role in “Casablanca,” as does the piano at Lelli’s<\/p><\/div>\n

In the classic movie \u201c<\/span>Casablanca<\/span>,\u201d Dooley Wilson played \u201cSam,\u201d the piano playing, loyal sidekick to Humphrey Bogart\u2019s \u201cRick Blaine,\u201d who managed upscale nightclub with intrigue and aplomb. \u201cRick\u2019s,\u201d in <\/span>Casablanca<\/span>, was a North African crossroads for travelers from <\/span>France<\/span>, <\/span>Germany<\/span>, and <\/span>Russia<\/span> \u2013 many trying to get to <\/span>Lisbon<\/span> and on to <\/span>America<\/span> to escape the war. \u201cEverybody comes to Rick\u2019s\u201d was even the original name of the film. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rick Haines runs Lelli\u2019s Inn of Auburn Hills with the same careful attention Rick Blaine did \u2013 with his eye on the door to take special care of the cross-selection of business leaders, celebrities and sports stars who drop in for dinner on their way through Auburn Hills, including Bob Seger, Kid Rock, and Sergio Marchionne, the traveling, Transatlantic Italian who heads both Fiat and Chrysler on both continents. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The interesting twist is Haines began his tenure at Lelli\u2019s more like \u201cSam,\u201d since he was originally hired to be the piano player! His promotion to waiter and then rise to general manager, in the course of two years, might seem swift were it not for the fact he came to Lelli\u2019s after 18 years in <\/span>Chicago<\/span> with management experience at the vaunted Four Seasons and Le Meridian hotels. Haines insists the diversity of hospitality positions he\u2019s held serves him well. \u201cI want to be excellent in every aspect of the business: service, food, wine, and atmosphere.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lelli\u2019s dark, rich atmosphere is as thick as the stunningly tender steaks it serves \u2013 and it has legacy: the chef still uses recipes from 1939 developed by Nerio Lelli who emigrated from <\/span>Italy<\/span> created the original Lelli\u2019s <\/span>Inn Res<\/span> in Midtown Detroit.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoying a filet at Lelli\u2019s is like cutting through and eating butter,\u201d says Dan Loepp, President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan \u2013 one of the Business Leaders of Michigan who settles in for a steak from time to time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lelli\u2019s also transports diners to <\/span>Italy<\/span> with its\u2019 traditional, six-course 6 course experience: antipasto tray; salad; Lelli\u2019s original and unique \u201ccream of minestrone;\u201d spaghetti Bolognese; main course of steak, veal, chicken or fish, and, of course, a spumoni desert.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Haines will make a special return to the piano keys when he plays Italian songs with singer Matthew Duncan during Lelli\u2019s special 75<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> anniversary dinners on September 26 and 27, during which wine tastings will also be paired with each course. Visit <\/span><\/span>www.LellisRestaurant.com<\/span><\/a> for reservations, which are especially encouraged before or after Pistons games or concerts at The Palace or DTE and Meadowbrook Music Theaters. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at <\/span>InviteYourself@aol.com<\/span><\/a> or via TravelTattler.com<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in <\/span>Lansing<\/span> on 92.1 FM and Fox 47 TV. <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the classic movie \u201cCasablanca,\u201d Dooley Wilson played \u201cSam,\u201d the piano playing, loyal sidekick to Humphrey Bogart\u2019s \u201cRick Blaine,\u201d who… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[976754,976755,2834,976756,1044570,3427,976748,976749,976750,980598,976752,976753],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-steak","tag-italian-food","tag-michigan","tag-meadowbrook-music-theater","tag-detroit","tag-chicago","tag-lellis-inn","tag-auburn-hills","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-restaurant","tag-italian","tag-the-palace-of-auburn-hills"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2014\/07\/unnamed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1862"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}