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.