FOOD
BY JODI CHARNAS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN
hef Eve Aronoff
spent the last five
years working
toward opening a
restaurant of her own. And last
September, her hard work paid
off, resulting in Eve: an intimate
Ann Arbor bistro, located in the
Kerrytown district, with a unique
menu mixing North African, West
African, Cuban and Vietnamese
cuisines.
Aronoff, who grew up in East
Lansing, is no stranger to the
restaurant business in Ann Arbor.
Before opening Eve, she worked
as a chef and consultant at Café
Zola, and as a subcontractor for
the restaurant inside Ann Arbor
Golf and Outing. So when she
looked into opening her own
restaurant, Aronoff knew she
wanted to stay in Ann Arbor. "Ann
Arbor is a good area for the kind
of restaurant I wanted — a per-
sonal place. Ann Arbor appreciates
individuality It's an educated
community that travels and appre-
ciates different cultures and differ-
ent types of food."
Eve has an eclectic menu,
inspired by Aronoff's extensive
childhood travels through Europe
and the Middle East, a year liv-
ing in Israel, as well as her formal
training at Le Cordon Bleu, a
culinary school in France. Aronoff
also studied different cultures
through her comparative litera-
ture major at Brandeis University
in Boston.
"I tie together all the flavors
of the different cultures that
I've studied, paying attention
to the different tastes and to
the contrasting styles," she says.
But Eve's true inspiration is
credited to Aronoff's family. "I
came from a big food family, so
everything always revolved
around eating," she says.
However, along with Aronoff's
contemporary cuisine comes a very
traditional philosophy of cooking.
She embraces the "Slow Food
Movement," which includes mak-
ing almost everything from
scratch, supporting small produc-
ers and local agriculture, following
the seasons, and, in general, taking
time to eat and appreciate food.
Aronoff says that with our coun-
try's fast-paced culture, "It's nice
to see people at my restaurant tak-
ing their time and
enjoying the
whole experi-
ence of din-
ing." 0
• APPETIZER:
Inspired
Nachos — Fried wontons
topped with black beans,
goat Gouda and Vermont
cheddar — "It sounds
like such a simple dish
but the taste is always so
surprising."
II ENTREE:
Moroccan
Chicken — "I love the
taste of the sweet, spicy
and savory flavors mixed
together. Also, this is the
dish I made for my final
exam [at Le Cordon Bleu]
so it has a personal mean-
ing to me."
U DESSERT :
Summer
desserts like fresh berries
and cream. "I like some-
thing simple after a big
meal with complex spices."
She also enjoys the
Chocolate Pate "a little
too much."
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