{image1} After three years of undefiled white décor, nightclub/restaurant Eve (718 N. Milwaukee St.) is "eve-olving" into a carnal redesign, featuring seven scarlet shades of blood, candy and the tempestuous apple.
Eve closed its doors early Sunday morning and will reopen on June 4 with a new -- and naughtier-- look. Owner Thomas Wackman recruited Chicago-based designer Rocco Laudizio of Slick Design and Manufacturing to deflower all 8,000 square feet of Eve.
"Three years ago Eve was conceived in beauty," says Wackman.
"Now we want to convey the fruits of the tree of knowledge ... a chic salaciousness, like a modern bordello," says Laudizio, who also designed two of Wackman's other ventures, Kenadee's (named for his second daughter) and Tangerine.
Wackman recently purchased the Milwaukee Street building and felt it was time to make improvements, even though the business is thriving.
"We're at our peak," says Wackman, 37. "I like changing things while we're still on top."
New chef Darin Wisniewski will ravish the menu. Wisniewski, who apprenticed in Ireland and was the sous chef at Osteria del Mondo and head chef at Steven Wade's Cafe, plans to upscale the current menu to modern American cuisine with classical techniques and fusion influences. Expect more steak-and-seafood options.
"I experiment with new creations -- for example chocolate-coffee mole -- but feel that cuisine should be set in its roots with items like béarnaise and port sauces with steak dishes," says Wisniewski.
The structure's 19th-century details, including the ornate Victorian trims, doorways and signature metal vines, will be left in tact. However, there will be a new lounge area on the lower level and Tempt, the upper-level dance floor, will be refitted.
Finally, a custom-designed VIP seating area and state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment will complete Eve's transformation.
"Eve has been a tremendous success," Wackman says, "and we have no desire to engineer a different animal. Eve-olution is all about heightening the experience even further - original, sinful and sublime."
Eve will be open five days a week from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. and closed Sunday and Monday.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
