The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, January 14, 2016 — 3B

COURTESY OF EVE ARONOFF

Owner of eve Eve Aronoff stands in front of the Bell Tower Hotel. eve is housed on the first floor. 

Eve Aronoff takes 
over the Bell Tower 
Hotel’s first floor.

By GIANCARLO BUONOMO 

Daily Food Columnist

In the early 1990s, when Eve 

Aronoff was in college just 
outside of Boston, she took a 
summer job as a hot dog vendor 
at Fenway Park, the home of 
the Boston Red Sox. If you met 
Aronoff today, you’d have trouble 
imaging the soft-spoken person 
in front of you climbing up and 
down stadium steps hawking 
franks. With two successful 
Ann Arbor restaurants under 
her apron, she’s clearly come a 
long way from that. But she still 
hasn’t forgotten what Fenway 
meant to fans — it was more than 
somewhere to sit. It was a place, 
and it was fun. She kept that in 
mind for over a dozen years until 
the time came to open her own 
restaurant, eve.

“I wanted a place where my 

passion for food and attention 
to detail was combined with an 
anything-goes atmosphere,” she 
told me recently, sitting in the 
luminous dining room of her 
new restaurant in the Bell Tower 
Hotel.

When I arrived in Ann Arbor 

in 2012, I’d occasionally hear sad 
whispers about eve. Opened in 
2003, the Kerrytown location 
quickly became a town favorite. 
It was so popular, Aronoff 
opened up a Cuban-burger joint, 
Fritas Batidos, and even got 
recruited by the producers for 
the sixth season of Top Chef, set 
in Las Vegas.

Suffice to say, Aronoff’s luck 

wasn’t great in Vegas. In the 
days leading up to the show, she 
broke her foot, her father was 
hospitalized, she cut her finger 

open packing her knives and 
the producers spelled her name 
wrong on the flight reservation, 
delaying her departure. Oh, and 
she got eliminated in the second 
episode.

“It was an interesting life 

experience, I’ll give it that,” she 
laughed.

But her luck truly took a 

turn for the worse in 2011. In 
Honduras, where she was doing 
charity work building ovens for 
rural communities, she severely 
injured her back. Unable to work 
the line anymore or even expedite, 
she was forced to close eve. 
Understandably, Ann Arborites 
mourned the loss of what had 
become a Kerrytown fixture.

“It was a very personal place,” 

Aronoff 
said. 
“People 
were 

invested in it as a food community. 
It was a bit off the beaten path. No 
one was really going to just wander 
in, because we were closed during 
the day when Kerrytown was 
busy. People made a point of going 
there.”

eve had been the culmination 

of years of work, both in other 
Ann Arbor kitchens, and even 
shops like Monahan’s Seafood. 
Aronoff, who eventually attended 
Le Cordon Bleu Paris, had for a 
time converted Ann Arbor into her 
own culinary school. Right after 
closing eve, her back and resolve 
still ached.

“For a brief time, I was like ‘I’m 

never doing that again,’ ” she said.

But a few weeks later, she was 

eyeing empty spaces around Ann 
Arbor. After two years, a suitable 
space arrived on the ground floor 
of the Bell Tower Hotel on South 
Thayer, just across the street from 
the main part of Central Campus. 
In February of 2015, she signed 
a lease, and started designing a 
new restaurant with assistant 
Architecture Prof. Neil Robinson. 
After months of slog, the new eve 

opened on Dec. 4 of last year.

Sitting with Aronoff in the new 

dining room just the other day, I 
commented on the unusual decor, 
full of icicle-looking lights, shades 
of pearl and bone-white and the 
occasional glisten from the still-
shiny liquor bottles neatly lined up 
at the bar.

“It looks like the Snow Queen’s 

Palace,” I quipped.

“Exactly!” Aronoff exclaimed. 

“I wanted it to feel like you were 
walking into Narnia.”

At the sleek white bar, a curious 

little herb garden seems to grow 
right out of the stone. Aronoff 
explains that the bar manager at 
the original eve had the idea to 
install a small patch of live potted 
herbs into the bar so he could pluck 
them to order. When she decided to 
revive eve, Aronoff installed a bar 
garden. But that’s not all she took 
from the old restaurant — many 
of the original staff members have 
returned to work at the new eve. 
However, Aronoff insists that this 
new South Thayer location isn’t a 
facsimile of the Kerrytown one.

“It’s 
evolved. 
I’ve 
evolved 

as a chef and as a person,” she 
explained.

But Aronoff also insists that the 

new restaurant is not just about her 
vision and image.

“When people tell me ‘you have 

a brand,’ it just makes me cringe,” 
she said, tightening her face and 
shrugging her shoulders up.

“So why is the restaurant called 

‘eve’?” I asked, a bit puzzled.

“Because it’s not ‘Eve’ with a 

capital ‘E’!” she exclaimed, excited 
to correct what is clearly a common 
misperception. 
“It’s 
lowercase. 

I was thinking the first woman, 
twilight, the Garden of Eden.”

Eve didn’t leave Ann Arbor after 

her injury. And it seems like “eve” 
didn’t either. Instead the soul of 
it lay waiting, like a seed ready to 
bloom again after a harsh winter.

New and familiar
Ann Arbor eatery

SINGLE REVIEW

 If the media coverage following 
most superstars is a circus, the 
firestorm that comes with Kanye 
West is an 
apocalypse. In 
the years pre-
ceding Swish, 
Yeezy has cer-
tainly fanned 
the flames. He 
married into 
the breeding 
ground of 
celebrity gos-
sip and has 
since announced that he’s run-
ning for president in 2020. Good 
ol’ Kanye.
 For better or worse, this means 
that the release of a new Kanye 
West album is pushed by an 
enormous hype train. The wheels 
relentlessly turned in 2015. 
“Wolves” — Kanye’s best track 
of the year — invited lengthy 
features about the continued rel-
evance of 808s and Heartbreak 
while “All Day” led to fervent 
speculation that there was a new 
Yeezus on the way.
 “FACTS,” released at the turn of 
the year, was a worrying sign that 
perhaps all the hype had finally 
gotten to Kanye, weighing on him 
with overblown expectations. It’s 
one of his worst tracks to date, a 
mess of “fuck Nike” and recycled 
production from the year before. 

The pressure of his media per-
sona is so obvious that the track 
seems almost like a satire. With 
the dominance of rappers like 
Kendrick and Drake looming, for 
a moment it seemed the A.D.H.D. 
brain of hip-hop was moving past 
Kanye.
 But this is Kanye fucking West. 
He knows what he’s doing. And 
because this is Kanye, we get 
“Real Friends,” a track (and a 
snippet) that instantly blows away 
all of his musical clutter in 2015.
 The beat opens up immediately, 
shutting out everything else. The 
rhythmic pulsing and angelic 
synths command your attention, 
and for good reason, because 
Kanye is about to lay out some of 
his best and most vulnerable bars 
in years.
 On 808s and Heartbreak, Kanye 
yearned for a family, an escape 
from the loneliness. In 2016, now 
married with two children, he has 
everything he wanted back then, 
but that loneliness — no, solitude 
— is still there. On “Real Friends,” 
Kanye blames himself for failing 
to keep touch with those close to 
him (I guess I get what I deserve, 
don’t I? / Word on the streets is 
they ain’t heard from him), but 
also recognizes that most aren’t 
there for him anyways (To 3 A.M., 
callin’ / How many real friends? 
/ Just to ask you a question / Just 

to see how you was feelin’ / How 
many?). It’s so personal and uni-
versal that you can’t help but look 
at your own life. Are your friends 
truly there for you? Will they be 
there when the “wheels don’t 
spin?” It’s hard to tell.
 It’s the same self-awareness 
that made his masterpiece My 
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 
so powerful, and the similarities 
between the road to Swish and 
the road to MBDTF are hard to 
ignore. Sure, there’s the obvious: 
G.O.O.D. Fridays are back. But 
the off-cuff rants, the escalating 
rumors, the changing album title 
and the odd interviews are all 
more potent reminders of that 
troubled Kanye we had before 
MBDTF.
 A snippet of “No More Parties 
in LA” follows “Real Friends,” 
and it’s the ultimate tease, finally 
revealing the Kendrick-Kanye 
collaboration. Here, Kanye is sick 
of the gloss and glam of LA life. 
The track is smooth and chilled, 
but still teaming with funk 
energy. This is, apparently, one of 
the five beats that Madlib gave to 
Kanye for MBDTF, furthering the 
connection so far between it and 
Swish.
 So what’s all of this going to 
lead to? When Swish releases on 
February 11th, we’ll finally see. - 
MATT GALLATIN

By VANESSA WONG

Daily Arts Writer

To escape the fast-paced 

campus life, veer a few blocks 
south for a traditional bistro 
style dining experience in the 
Zola 
Bistro. 
Drop-hanging 

spotlights, industrial design-
influenced bar shelves and 
a gold, textured wall glow 
invitingly — a sleek finish to a 
classic dining experience.

The menu, too, takes the 

French bistro concept — a local 
eatery with simple, wholesome 
meals — and modernizes it, 
citing culinary inspiration from 
all over the world.

“When you come to our 

restaurant you see things from 
all over, not just one country,” 
owner Alan Zakalik said.

Zakalik 
comes 
from 

Poland, bringing a Northern 
European 
influence 
to 
the 

menu. His wife and restaurant 
co-owner 
Hediye 
Batu’s 

Turkish 
background 
adds 

Mediterranean flavor.

“It may be from the Far East, 

or Italian, or Spanish, and we 
try to make sure that it blends 
together well on the menu,” he 
said.

While its older sister Café 

Zola, located in the downtown 
area, has earned recognition 
for 
its 
eclectic 
menu 
and 

décor, Zola Bistro differs in 

its homier, more approachable 
feel. The regular menu features 
reoccurring nightly specials 
— braised short ribs, paella 
or a Greek seafood stew. Both 
the Café and the Bistro will 
be participating in Restaurant 
Week with a special multi-
course dinner menu.

Expect 
Zola 
Bistro’s 

Restaurant Week selection to be 
a variety sampler representing 
everything the restaurant does. 
Their Restaurant Week dinner 
menu offers an incredibly wide 
variety of choices. For starters, 
one can select from mussels, 
quinoa 
cakes, 
lamb 
kofte 

meatballs, 
crab 
cake, 
fried 

chickpeas and more, all cooked 
in 
sauces 
influenced 
from 

different parts of the world. 
Some of the highlights for the 
main course include Moroccan 
salmon, flatiron steak with 
chimichurri 
sauce, 
farfalle 

kale and good old-fashioned 
spaghetti topped with Zola’s 
famous meatballs.

“I like to think of it as a world 

feast — you can really try many 
different things,” Zakalik said.

Zola 
Bistro 
also 
offers 

a 
special 
lunch 
menu 
for 

Restaurant 
Week, 
featuring 

their farmhouse omelette, lamb 
kofte, chicken salad sandwich, 
wild rice and French lentil 
burger, among other options.

Zakalik and Batu said the 

Ann 
Arbor 
community 
is 

integral to their experience as 

restaurateurs.

“To own a restaurant in Ann 

Arbor has become part of the 
fabric of my life,” Zakalik said. 
“It’s not just a … business; we’re 
involved in different aspects of 
the town itself.”

In addition to being involved 

with local farmers and food 
producers, Zola Bistro partners 
with 
the 
food 
bank 
Food 

Gatherers. During Restaurant 
Week, 
proceeds 
from 
the 

Kenrick’s crepe will be donated 
to the charity.

Zakalik 
said 
he 
enjoys 

connecting 
with 
the 
local 

community 
through 
the 

restaurant, reminiscing about 
students that have worked at 
Zola and then come back to visit 
after they’ve jumpstarted their 
careers.

He’s especially excited for 

how 
Restaurant 
Week 
can 

introduce new diners to the 
passion he has for Ann Arbor’s 
culinary community.

“Restaurant Week, at night, 

brings a lot more young people 
to this side of town, so I think 
it’s a good thing to expose to 
students of the university,” he 
said.

If you brave the cold this 

upcoming 
week 
(and 
you 

should), Zola Bistro and Café 
Zola will welcome you with 
open arms and a full plate. Bon 
appetit!

Restaurant

PROFILE

IN

Zola Bistro 

differs in being 
homier, more 
approachable. 

A

Real 
Friends

Kanye West

Self-released

SMTD showcases
Collage collaboration

By KELLY MARTINEK

Daily Arts Writer

This weekend, the School 

of Music, Theatre and Dance 
will present their 39th annual 
Collage 
Concert at Hill 
Auditorium, a 
tradition 
that 

began at the 
University 
in 

1977.

This 

“collage” 
is 

exactly 
what 

it 
sounds 

like, a piecing 
together 
of many different kinds of 
performances into one cohesive 
production. For School of Music, 
Theatre & Dance sophomore 
Eliana 
Barwinski, 
the 

concert is all about one thing: 
collaboration.

“The 
Collage 
Concert 
is 

a 
culmination 
of 
different 

performances from all three 
sectors of the School of Music, 
Theatre and Dance,” Barwinski 
said. “It’s really an evening to 
open one’s eyes to the variety 
of our art forms and get to 
participate 
with 
us 
in 
the 

exploration of collaboration.”

She 
said 
the 
production 

includes performances from all 
different disciplines, featuring 
soloists, smaller acts and larger 
ensemble pieces, as well as acts 
that bring different disciplines 
together. This year there are 
about 15 student performances 
and 12 ensemble performances, 
including band, choir, jazz and 
orchestra.

“There’s just so much talent, 

so when an audience member 
goes to see the performance, they 
get to have such an enriching 
experience seeing not only just 
singing or just opera, but they 
get to see theatre in the works 
and they get to see dancing,” 
Barwinski said. “It’s a really cool 
collaboration, and it shows how 
not only does each part possess 
their own individual talent, but 
actually how we collaborate as a 
school.” 

Conducting 
Prof. 
Eugene 

Rogers, director of the Men’s 
Glee Club, is co-artistic director 
of the Collage Concert, along 
with Jazz prof. Ellen Rowe. In an 
e-mail interview, Rogers wrote 
that the concert’s unique ability 
to move seamlessly between all 
different kinds of performance 
is what makes it the school’s 
biggest event of the year.

“The 
Collage 
Concert 
is 

captivatingly 
distinctive 
and 

features the incredible range 
of 
SMTD 
ensembles 
and 

departments 
performing 
one 

riveting 
work 
after 
another 

without pause,” Rogers wrote. 
“It’s a non-stop evening of 
virtuosic performances. No other 
concert features the breadth and 
depth of the entire SMTD.”

Barwinski said she believes 

the concert will be appreciated 
by all students, even those 
outside of the SMTD.

“Since 
this 
is 
our 
most 

popular performance and it 
usually does almost sell out, we 
try to make student tickets as 
available as we can by bumping 
the price down from $28 to $12, 
and you have your Bert’s tickets, 
which are free for any freshman 
or sophomore,” Barwinski said.

Rogers 
agreed 
that 
the 

range of performances means 
the concert can appeal to all 
students.

“I am always moved and 

impressed by the level of talent 
that 
our 
students 
display 

everyday, but especially on this 
concert,” he wrote. “It makes me 
proud to be a Wolverine! If any 
student at U-M has never had the 
chance to experience this concert, 
it’s a must see before leaving this 
campus, and it only happens once 
a year in January.”

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

Collage 
Concert

January 16, 
8 p.m.

Hill Auditorium

$28/$22/$12 

with student ID

Their dinner 
menu offers an 
incredibly wide 

variety.

Zakalik enjoys 

connecting 

with the local 
community.

DO YOU SPEND YOUR DAYS 

LISTENING TO POP PUNK AND DJ 

KHALED?

COME DO THAT WITH US!

E-mail katjacqu@umich.edu and ajtheis@umich.edu for 

information on applying to Daily Arts.

