menu of snacks such as a cheese and fruit tray, unique cookies, and a charcuterie board. The idea grew partly out of a desire to make the space work harder for the business, which is a away a bit from Ann Arbor’s main commercial strip. “It’s not a natural place for people to go,” says Sims, “but people will come for a destination.” So, in a partying college town, who goes to a bar that doesn’t serve what bars generally serve? Turns out, lots of people. On the inaugural night, instead of the 50 friends Sims was expecting, 300 people showed up for the live jazz, wassail, and Brooklyn egg cream. “The recovery community showed up, college kids who are underage showed up, the Muslim community showed up. [Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit founder] Rick Sperling ’89 showed up with his wife, who is pregnant—so pregnant women showed up. All ages came. It was the most diverse experience I’ve had in Ann Arbor.” Sims says every color, every type of tattoo and piercing, and every gender identification was represented. Two men traveled from Flint to scout out the bar for friends. Sims has had thousands of calls, emails, and texts, one of which was to talk about franchising (“I think tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a good idea,” she says). She’s been interviewed by Buzzfeed, NPR, and Ann Arbor’s MLIVE.COM. Sims opened Brillig for a second night at the end of December to such great success that she now opens every other Saturday. Brillig not only has no alcohol (not even in its food or bakery), it also has no televisions nor other elements of media culture. Instead, Sims plans to schedule game nights or live music. “All Oberlin musicians are wanted,” she says. “100 percent! This is almost a community center with a bar-like feeling. And that’s the point. When I came back to working with food, I thought the food would be my focus. It’s not—at least not yet. It’s way more about the people and the feeling of being there.” Despite the demons, Sims says she’s “wired for happiness” and feels that when doing what she loves, success follows. When she quit a job several years ago to follow her life dream of being a chef, she won a competition that netted her a $50,000 kitchen makeover and founded a catering company, which she operated for five years. Brillig brings together many aspects of Sims’ life, right down to a name lifted from literature that appealed to the former English major. “When I show up as my most authentic self— who am I? I don’t drink; I’m a mom—when I bring that out, the universe goes f ’ing bonkers.” n BOOKSHELF Recent Releases BY LIV COMBE ’12 Tomorrow Is My Turn Rhiannon Giddens ’99 NONESUCH RECORDS Oberlin opera major Giddens came to the forefront of the music industry at the forefront of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, but her powerful, sultry voice is breaking out on its own. After working with T-Bone Burnett on The New Basement Tapes, the folk artist/producer dream team is at it again with Tomorrow Is My Turn. With notes of gospel, jazz, blues, country, and rock n’ roll, this album takes the listener through Giddens’ own American history. All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race & Politics from Boston to Brooklyn. The Conflicted Soul of the Northeast Jason Sokol ’99 BASIC BOOKS The northeast has a history of political liberalism and racial equality, but the full story is never as black and white. Sokol, assistant professor of history at the University of New Hampshire and a skilled storyteller, digs below the surface and examines the civil rights movement from a political slant, starting with the Civil War and continuing through the election of President Obama. Art Since 1980: Charting the Contemporary Peter Kalb ’91 PEARSON An associate professor of contemporary art at Brandeis University, Kalb’s latest publication surveys modern work produced from the late 20th century into the early 21st century. Taking an in-depth look at everything from painting to photography, sculpture to installation, performance to video art, Kalb introduces examples of the different forms that, he writes, “can be called upon to help us define both the contemporary and art.” Ghostbelly Elizabeth Heineman ’85 THE FEMINIST PRESS What is it like to be both mothering and grieving for a child at the same time? A professor of history and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies at the University of Iowa, Heineman’s Ghostbelly recounts her home birth gone tragically wrong, ending in her baby’s stillbirth. This courageous and intimate memoir examines the home birth and maternal health care industries while also showing the reader the profound depths of what it means to be a parent grieving for an unborn child. A Chef’s Life: Farm to Table Cooking in the Berkshires Michael Ballon ’78 CASTLE STREET CAFÉ Don’t expect pages and pages of bucolic recipes from A Chef’s Life, Ballon’s ode to living, working, and cooking in the Berkshires for the past 25 years. As owner and chef of the Castle Street Café in the town of Great Barrington, Mass., Ballon’s “cookbook” takes form in 45 short essays—part memoir; part interviews and profiles of customers, staff, and farmers; and part inside look at what it was like to be cooking farm-to- table before it became a nationwide trend. OBERLIN ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2015 / SPRING 9