Review - Eve the Restaurant

Last night Brad and I went to Eve for my birthday dinner. Eve opened about 4 or 5 years ago, but it's one of the only nicer restaurants in town we hadn't yet tried. When it first opened, we spent a lot of time hanging out at pubs and sports bars and figured a place like this was too snooty for us. But after we became restaurant snobs, every time we thought about going there, we couldn't get reservations. Everyone who's eaten there has absolutely raved about it, so I was determined to have a nice special-occasion meal there. The key to getting into this place is making reservations more than, oh, a day in advance. We'll have to remember that next time!

When we walked in, we were so relieved to be out of the blizzard that it took us a few minutes for the atmosphere to sink in. The place is tiny -- probably only about 15 tables total, and a few seats at the bar. It was dimly lit with candles on each table and the place definitely had the air of "you will spend several hundred dollars here," but the conversations were lively and it didn't feel stuffy at all. The place was definitely decorated in a minimalist way, with a simple sprig of mint in a vase on each table (a little weird) and two small ramekins filled with sea salt and fresh pepper on each table. It looked much cooler than your standard S&P shakers.

The service was absolutely top-notch. Honestly, I'd be hard-pressed to say I've ever had better service at a nice restaurant. Our waitress was attentive without being overbearing, and very nice without being cheesy. My only complaint would be that the food seemed to come out a little quickly -- our entire meal, from bread to post-dessert coffee, only lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, and we'd liked to have lingered a little bit longer between courses. But that's definitely better than the food coming out to slowly, so I guess it's not really a complaint.

When you sit down, they bring you a crusty baguette with three house-made butters (salmon, chive and something else that I didn't try). It was a wonderful twist on the "bread basket" concept. They also have an amazing martini list -- I didn't have one, but I've heard that the Jamtini is to die for. Brad started with a glass of petite syrah that isn't on the website's menu.

We decided to skip the appetizer and go straight for soup and salad so we wouldn't be too full for dessert. I had a green salad, which came with housemade blue cheese dressing (delicious), a wedge of brie and a piece of toasted garlic-like bread. Simple, but delicious. Brad had the soup of the day, which was an Asian seafood/tropical fruit creamy blend. He said it was amazing, but since it had mango in it, I couldn't have a taste unless I wanted to end my birthday dinner with an epi-pen.

Normally we order specials at nice restaurants, but there were two menu choices that we couldn't resist. I chose the lamb, and Brad ordered the rabbit. I know!!! We both feel a little weird about eating rabbit, but we've chickened out so many times at Vinology that he figured if he was going to try it, it might as well be at Eve.

The main courses did not disappoint -- they were incredible. My lamb literally melted in my mouth. And the rabbit tasted like sort of a cross between dark meat chicken and duck -- it was so tender it fell off the bone. The only issue I had was that both meats came with the exact same sides: garlic mashed potatoes, a mustard cream sauce and grilled root vegetables. It was all delicious, but I don't necessarily think that lamb and mashed potatoes are the best combination (I would have suggested basmati rice or rosemary potato wedges, I think). However, that's just a minor complaint...everything tasted awesome, and the portions were decent-sized for a "gourmet" restaurant (I took half of mine home).

For dessert we split the banana-lemon bread pudding, which -- well, you can't go wrong with homemade bread pudding served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on top. It was so surprisingly huge that between the two of us, we ate our fill and had about a third left! (We took that home, too...I hope that's not nerdy.)

From the atmosphere to the service to the quality of the food, Eve is one of the best dining experiences I've ever had in Michigan. The price definitely lends itself to special occasions only (with no apps, one dessert and only one glass of wine, we spent over $140 on the meal -- if we'd really been in the mood to drink, it would have been well over $200). But I truly believe that an outstanding dining experience is worth the money. We plan to talk about this one for years!