The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 — 5

Seated in an upholstered
booth
surrounded
by
a
sparkling jewel toned interior
and lit with a warm, bright
glow, Sava’s Ann Arbor has
everything a millennial foodie
needs for the perfect Instagram
picture — the trendy, boho
ambiance pairs perfectly with
their token Sweety Fries, of
course.
When Sava’s first opened
its doors to the Ann Arbor
community,
they
weren’t
located
in
the
large,
aesthetically designed sweet
spot on State Street, where they
are now. They were actually
right across the street in a
modest 23 seat café which they
were pushed out of due to the
opening of State Street CVS.
Since its humble beginnings,
Sava Farah (restaurant owner)
has
transformed
Sava’s
into one of Ann Arbor’s hot
spots — taking that small,
quaint café and creating a
full service, 300 seat dining
experience. Sava’s has gone on
to become, indisputably, one
of Ann Arbor’s most popular
restaurants.
The restaurant now serves
over 800 guests on any given
Sunday for brunch, says general
manager Melanie Brown, who
has been a part of the Sava’s
family for seven years. Brown
is part of the reason the place
seems to have so much heart —
her commitment to being set
up for success every day is both
admirable and inspiring.
“I come in and open Sava’s
and my main motive is that
we are set up for success.
Everything from the music, to
the lights, to the atmosphere.
I just want to make sure all
of the guests have the best
experience possible,” she said,
when asked about her typical
day. It seems that hospitality is
at the core of so much of Sava’s
culture, which is what sets the
standard of such a tremendous
experience every time you
walk through the front doors.
My experiences in Sava’s
over the past two and a half
years have been nothing short
of
exceptional.
Everything
from its diverse menu options
to trendy atmosphere has made
my wide array of brunch dates,
birthday
celebrations
and
meals with visitors from out
of town special and delicious.
I am a firm believer that you
can’t find better sweet potato
fries anywhere you look in Ann
Arbor, which is a testament
to the “Sweety” sauce I’m
not ashamed to admit that I’d
willingly drink.
Ann Arbor has a diverse and
intriguing
restaurant
scene
— with over 300 restaurants
dotting its streets and filling
the hearts and stomachs of
University students, professors,
tourists and townspeople alike.
But something about Sava’s
puts it above the rest — it is
always packed with customers,
whether it’s a Sunday morning,
a Friday night or a Wednesday
afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I was
curious about just what makes
Sava’s so irresistible.

“I think the location really
helps, but the diverse menu
options really makes Sava’s
appealing to all walks of life.
Sava’s has everything,” Brown
answered,
before
Adrienne
Brady, marketing and media
coordinator chimed in: “And
our Insta game, of course. We
really know our audience.”
I couldn’t think of a better
person than Brady to be in
charge of coordinating the
social media and marketing
for all of the SavCo Hospitality

locations, including Sava’s and
Aventura. She is bright and
bubbly, astute and curious.
Sava’s is a known hot spot
for
all
occasions
—
from
casual lunches with friends,
to important dinners, to the
idiosyncratic Sunday brunch
buffet, they never seem to miss
a beat.
“We started the Sunday
brunch
buffet
because
on
Sunday we’re so busy that
the kitchen couldn’t keep up.
The chefs create a variety of
amazing options every week,
and the brunch has become
so popular it’s more busy
than Sunday nights,” Brown
said when asked about the
brunch
phenomenon
that
Sava’s masters so well. I would
venture to say that if I only ate
the chicken sausage for the
rest of my life, I’d be more than
happy.
“Our
audience
is
the
students,
and
we
market
to them,” Brady added to
emphasize
the
University
brunch habit that Sava’s helps
people to indulge in.
Whenever I go to Sava’s, I

have my favorite dishes on the
menu that I can’t resist. It’s
really something special and
alluring that the menu is able
to tackle so many options, so
much so that it is impossible to
dislike Sava’s. I usually opt for
the Hippie Bowl — a delicious
variety of fresh vegetables
and grilled tempeh tossed in a
tangy lemon-tahini dressing.
The
Mediterranean
salmon
bowl is also one of my go-tos
— the mushroom medley and
roasted pearl onions it is served
with are to die for.
I was curious about finding
out which of their iconic menu
items sell best, considering the
restaurant is a revolving door
of hungry students all day long.
“The mac and cheese and the
greek salad are without a doubt
our best sellers,” Brown said
without missing a beat. The
mac and cheese is one of Sava’s
most recognizable dishes, with
students coming back time and
time again for the beloved bowl
of cheesy goodness.
“In terms of breakfast, I
think the avocado toast and
kale breakfast bowl are the
best
menu
items,”
Brady
finished.
Lucky
for
Brady,
her job is based out of the
downtown SavCo offices, so
she’s away from the heat of the
busy kitchen, yet still has the
privilege of coming into the
restaurants to photograph and
taste the memorable dishes.
This is a job I know many
University students would die
to have, as so many of us would
select Sava’s as our favorite
option for a meal out in Ann
Arbor.
Sava’s is one of the beating
hearts
of
this
community
— with its reservation list
filling up weeks before major
weekends in town and the
students’
consistent
loyalty
to its delicious food and one
of a kind dining experience.
When asked what it is like
to be a part of such a large
college
community,
Brown
had so much to say about her
experience working at Sava’s
in Ann Arbor the past seven
years.
“(The
University)
keeps
us alive. The hospital, the
students, the professors, the
employees, the tourism — we
have new guests from around
the world all the time but we
also have our devoted regulars.
I get the opportunity to meet
so many interesting people
from so many walks of life
every single day.”
Brown is passionate and
enthusiastic about continuing
to make Sava’s as remarkable
as it can be, and it’s clear just
from speaking with her that
she’s successful in her mission.
The restaurant business is no
easy corner of the world to live
in — with its erratic hours and
constant challenges to tackle
— but it is one that both Brown
and Brady are ecstatic to be a
part of.
“I mean it’s never boring
in this business. It’s so fast
paced and exciting. I love just
meeting all of the different
unique
people
involved
in
this process. It’s just simply
addicting,” Brady said of her
experience with her first year

Inside Ann Arbor’s most
happening spot, Sava’s

FOOD COLUMN

ELI RALLO
Daily Food Columnist

ALEC COHEN / DAILY

A lot of great media begins
with an airplane. There is
the touching movie “We Are
Marshall,” which details the
rebuilding
of
the
football
program
and
morale
at
Marshall University following
a plane crash that took the

lives of 75 members of the
football team. On TV, there is
“Lost,” one of the most iconic
and well-known shows of all
time, due to both its consuming
storyline and one of the most
infamously confusing finales
of all time. There is a lot
that a show or movie can do
with an airplane. It can tell
a harrowing tale of human
fear or a heartwarming story
of community. It can paint a
tear-jerking picture of reunion
or show an unlikely character
overcoming all odds. Yes, there
are endless possibilities when
it comes to basing a show off

an airplane. “Manifest” takes
advantage of none of them.
Following
precedent,
“Manifest”
could’ve
been
a show about how people
adjust after an unexpected,
strange
occurrence,
but
instead it takes a different
route: superpowers. The main
narrator,
Michaela
Stone
(Melissa Roxburgh, “Valor”),
is the first to experience a
newfound telepathy as she is
riding the bus. Her own voice
speaks to her, repeating “slow
down, slow down.” Michaela
relays this message to the bus
driver, which prompts him to
slow down and avoid hitting
a young boy chasing a ball
into the street. Her brother
Ben (Josh Dallas, “Once Upon
a Time”) also hears his own
voice, and it is revealed at the
end of the episode that the
Stone siblings are not the only
ones. The episode ends with
every person from the flight
getting a pain in their head,
drawing them to the tarmac
the flight is docked at. As they
all gather there, watching
the plane that changed their
lives, the plane blows itself up,
emphasizing the supernatural
direction “Manifest” plans to
take.
On its surface, “Manifest” is
an intriguing show. Flight 828
took off from Jamaica in Apr.
of 2013. After a spout of rough
turbulence, the plane safely
landed in New York — on Nov.

4, 2018. None of the passengers
were injured, and not a single
one aged a day. Even with the
slightly ridiculous time warp
plot, “Manifest” still sets up
enough emotional situations
for its characters to redeem
itself. Upon landing, the Stone
siblings find that in their
time missing, their mother
has died, Cal’s twin sister is
five years older than him and
Michaela’s former fiance is
married to another woman.
Yet everything significant that
happens in the first episode
ends before it even begins,
leaving very little room for the
show to develop.
It’s a disorganized story,
one that is vaguely interesting
to watch but exhausting to
follow. “Manifest” is the type
of show you may only watch
if you were staying home sick
from school, or that your mom
would DVR to watch later
another day with a tall glass of
wine. It uses shock factor to set
up a story that could have been
caused by literally anything
else, sucking the story dry
of uniqueness or enjoyment.
A plane crash is a popular
trope used among all forms
of media, but the stunt can be
overlooked if it is used in a way
that creates an iconic piece of
art. “Manifest” fails to do this,
and thus becomes yet another
tacky attempt at exploiting an
overused gimmick, with no
depth behind it to justify that.

‘Manifest’ is not destiny

“Manifest”

Series Premiere

NBC

Mondays at 10 p.m.

SAMANTHA DELLLA FERA
Daily Arts Writer

TV REVIEW

Ann Arbor

has a diverse

and intriguing

restaurant scene

— with over

300 restaurants

dotting its

streets and

filling the hearts

and stomachs

of University

students,

professors,

tourists and

townspeople alike.

But something

about Sava’s puts

it above the rest

ALEC COHEN / DAILY

in the restaurant business.
She also mentioned that she
knows she’ll be here for a while
— the business has such an
intoxicating and high energy,
and this fits her personality so
well.
“I love to make people’s
days and connect with anyone.
It is the best way to foster
human interaction and meet
people,” Brown said of her
experience with the business.
She circumvented challenges
and confusing situations with
ease even during our brief
conversation — her go-getter
attitude and organized form
of leadership is the backbone
of the whole place. It is known
that the restaurant business is
different and new everyday —
fighting new fires that arise
each day is one of the main
jobs of a general manager, and
she is perfectly suited for such
a job.
When asked what’s next

for Sava’s and SavCo at large,
the ladies shared with me
the inside scoop about the
new SavCo restaurant — the
DixBoro
house,
opening
this spring. Even with new
restaurants
opening,
and
others thriving just down the
road, Sava’s is continuing to up
the ante.
“We’re tailoring what we
do to the needs and wants of
the community constantly,”
Brady remarked, and I found
this
the
perfect
time
to
attempt to convince them to
put the gluten free pancakes,
porridge bowl and chicken
sausage back on their fall
brunch menu. They took the
suggestions
very
seriously,
noting that they always take
the students’ advice and ideas
into consideration.
“We’re always aesthetically
improving, we have a new
fall menu and drink menu
coming and we’re constantly

diversifying the menu and
what we do here,” Brown said.
I left Sava’s with an intense
craving for Sweety Fries, as
one does, and not without
inquiring
about
reservation
openings for parents weekend,
which is over a month away.
They are already fully booked,
which is unsurprising and
makes me wish one place
could seat more than 300
people. With their current
success, they would certainly
thrive with an even bigger
location, if at all possible. My
biggest take away from my
experience
speaking
with
Brown and Brady, was their
amiable nature and positive
energy. They confirmed for me
that what Sava’s does for our
community is important and
lasting, and left me hoping that
I will be able to return for my
favorite chicken sausage and
banana topped porridge bowl
sometime this fall.

NBC