Dan Meier & Elaine Turner

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Eliane Turner likes the appetizers at Red Lobster. // Photograph courtesy of Red Lobster

Chef Dan Meier of Rocky’s Rotisserie in Livonia says that between the responsibilities of the restaurant and his three small children at home, “Going out is a luxury.” Still, he manages to get to his colleague Rocky Rachwitz’s restaurant, Rocky’s of Northville, for the braised short ribs with red-wine sauce and mashed potatoes. Lazybones Smokehouse in Roseville is another favorite. “Chef Deni [Smiljanovski] and I used to work at the Golden Mushroom together, so catching up with conversation and grabbing a sampler of his barbecue always does the trick,” says Meier. Nearer to his Farmington Hills home, he has a neighborhood favorite, Dagwood’s Deli. “The entire family loves the Italian subs and ham-and-cheese croissants,” he says.

Brazilian native Eliane Turner, co-proprietor of Gaucho Brazilian Steakhouse in Northville Township, admits to a liking for the Red Lobster’s appetizers, “hot little breads and lobster.”  She also enjoys sitting at a teppan table at Benihana with her husband and children. “It’s entertaining to watch the chefs cook,” she says. After trying all the restaurants on the Haggerty corridor, Benihana remains her favorite. On trips to New York, she goes much more upscale, to Porter House New York on Columbus Circle for prime porterhouse for two, and to Le Cirque for the duck.