8- The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - Thursday, March 2, 1995 Bella Ciao: Cozy hideaway, high quality 1 By James M. Nash and Maureen Sirhal Daily Staff Reporters A quiet atmosphere and the sooth- ing sounds of an Italian opera set the tone for an enchanting meal at the Bella Ciao Resteraunt. Located on West Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor, this cozy hideway feeds into the more romantic side of things. The elegant decor adds to the re- laxation of the food served at Bella Ciao. A traditional Italian menu ranges from antipasto (appetizers) dishes from to hearty pasta dishes, priced reason- ably but in moderate portions. A vari- ety of rich-tasting pasta dishes adorns the menu. The gnocchi, a dish of cheese- filled macaroni smothered in mush- rooms and a marinara sauce, is rich in flavor yet delicately spiced. Unlike many Italian restaurants that drown their entrees in oregano, the flavor here is supplied by a medley of fresh vegetables. And that flavor comple- ments the mild blend of cheeses that fill the soft - but not spongy - pasta shells. A vast price difference separates the pasta dishes from the full entrees, which run as high as $15. Overall, prices are reasonable for a formal Italian restaurant, but be forewarned: A full meal for two, complete with appetizers and dessert, could easily run $50. While there is no formal dessert menu, the elegance and variety of the choices differs from day to day. In this particular encounter, the restau- rant offered a selection that ranged from mild to super rich. The desserts included a wild walnut cake topped with white chocolate and espresso chocolate, a canoli, a different twist on the classic lemon meringue pie and a tempting lemon ice cream. We recommend the chocolate napoleon: Three layers of white and dark choco- late sandwiched by chocolate ganache and garnished with a raspberry sauce. Served with a steaming cup of coffee or cappuccino, this combination will satisfy the most discriminating sweet tooth. More disappointing is the bread. Fresh, warm, slightly chewy bread is a staple of any good Italian restaurant, served in abundance with a dollop of butter or olive oil. Bella Ciao offered a slightly older herb-flavored bread whose taste bordered on overbearing. The waitstaff serviced the meal with style and grace. While maintain- ing a low profile, they graciously at- tend to the needs of the patrons. Although Bella Ciao is bit pricey for the average college wallet it does meet a very high standard of quality. Yet it is informal enough to walk in off the street. al Bella Ciao Trattoria 118 W. Liberty 995-2107 Hours: Mon-Sat 5:30-10, Sun 5-9 Price: Entrees $14-15, appetizers $4-5, desserts $4-5 Notes: Vegetarian friendly All non-smoking All major credit cards accepted Dining room handicap accessible; restrooms unaccessible Dress: Casual to semi-formal Rating: MMMRN mn Stars don't kill rock By Tom Erlewine Daily Arts Editor At the beginning of each year, reams of paper are wasted on crit- ics' year-end lists. Most of these articles run in December or Janu- ary, but the granddaddy of all an- nual music critics' polls appears on newsstands this week: The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop. Over the years, the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll has become the unofficial final word in main- stream rock criticism. While Roll- ing Stone is more widely read, the Village Voice polls nearly 300 crit- ics from magazines and newspapers across the country, making it an accurate barometer of how rock criti- cism is leaning each year. Most of the time, the Pazz & Jop critics manage to hand out a surprise or two; at their best, they pick out emerging trends quite incisively. However, they are very rarely inci- sive. As a quick look at their final Top 40 shows, America's critics are horribly unimaginative. Like the majority of the year- end polls, Pazz & Jop selected Hole's "Live Through This" as al- .1 E--- 306 DANCE WEAR SALE in bum of the year. Hole's victo surprising - Courtney Lov riding on a wave of sympati Kurt Cobain's suicide - b discouraging. 121 critics "Live Through This," gi nearly twice as many point second-place album, Pave "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rounding out the top ten is table who's who of mainstr ternative: R.E.M., Nirvan Young, Liz Phair, Johnny Guided By Voices, Nine Inc and Beck. What's discouraging ab year's Pazz & Jop is not the included in the top 40 - tha down to a matter of taste. TI lem with the poll is what is tween the lines. As with any poll, the e problem with Pazz & Jop is its pants. Although 300 critics cluded in the survey, the maj white males mostly over th 35. (The head of the entirea Robert Christgau, the Village music editor and self-appointe of American Rock Critics" - 50 years old.) Sure, there m norities were invited to par but those votes cannot help dramatically under the nur older white males and their d Essentially, a core group older white males developer tire practice of rock criticise early '70s, rock criticism be pearing across the country rily in underground news Soon, rock criticism began inroads in mainstream publi with writers like Christga Marsh, Lester Bangs an Marcus held as the experts because they had been wri longest. And that theory mak sense - they invented th theory that rock was dese some coherent criticism. However, these writer writing when they were yo passionate, totally immersir selves in every record the get their hands on. As the ' gressed, more and more reco - 'Pazz &Jop' pry isn't released in various subgenres. Fre- e is still quently, these subgenres (such as co hy from disco or electronic music) were dis- wi )ut it is dained by the critics because it didn't me placed rock. Instead of acknowledging the str ving it diversification of popular music, th s as the rock criticism became a rallying Li -ment's point for rockers. When punk came cri Rain." along in the late '70s and smashed mL > a veri- the boundaries of rock'n' roll, most to. earn al- critics recognized its importance yet Fo a, Neil never comprehended what it meant. ba y Cash, Punk marked a major turning point he ;h Nails in both music and music criticism. As as it smashed musical dinosaurs like Bad he out this Company to bits, it brought the un- records derground to the forefront. Most punk gr t comes bands were scathing guitar rockers alt he prob- like the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks or tin said be- the Ramones, yet within the scene - there were artsier bands like Wire and all Pssential Suicide that redefined what rock was. pu s partici- Bands like the Clash and the Jam M are in- fit into conventional rock criticism gic ority are because they rocked like all bands all e age of rocked in the past. Bands like Pere ink affair - Ubu and Wire were different -.- Voice's critics could appreciate their mu- wr d "Dean sic, but they couldn't understand it. a. - is over Granted, the more intellectual str iany mi- critics (Marcus and Christgau) un- ve rticipate, derstood what the artsier post-punk ye but fall bands were doing but the people ne mber of that were writing for local main- cr lisciples. stream papers didn't. These are the Fi of these people that followed in the foot- ro d the en- steps of the old guard once rock pe m. In the criticism was legitimate. The local al egan ap- papers never praised anything ad- ,prima- venturous until they got a go-ahead m spapers. from Christgau, Marsh or Marcus. b making Fanzines, however, embraced the "1 cations, stranger music with open arms, pro- ab u, Dave moting it for their own built-in audi- ro d Griel ence. Throughout the '80s, the main- ki ,simply stream (which now included maga- n ting the zines like Rolling Stone and Spin) ne