I am so excited that Melange is making itself available to weddings and other events – it is an awesome space right downtown Ann Arbor and would make for such a unique wedding venue! Laura, one of the owners, answered my questions about the space – enjoy!
Where did Melange get its name? Mélange’s name came from the restaurant’s builder and architect John Janviriya. He wanted to highlight the fusion of foods & the building design. Mélange means fusion.
What is new these days? We have so much going on these days. We have released a new menu that includes unique appetizers like our Duck Nachos and our version of a BLT along with some delicious entrees. Mélange will also be having a late menu available for customers until 2am that will include most appetizers and desserts and entrees upon request. Since Mélange is known to be a wine bar we could not help but update and revamp our wine list. We have separated the wines to allow our customers to easily decipher between all of their options. We have a wine that will please anyone’s pallet. Soon we will be releasing our tapas style dessert menu. With miniature options of all our tasty desserts and some new ones this allows our customers to have a little taste of everything, now they can cure their chocolate craving and have a bite of our cheesecake too.
What are some of the things you are most excited about for the restaurant? I cannot wait for everyone to learn about what Mélange has to offer. With some new marketing and exciting events I cannot wait to share the excitement with all of our guests. This coming year we will be hosting a lot more events for our guests to enjoy as well as getting involved with some local charities. We are looking forward to launching our catering menu and working closely with personal and corporate events.
What is your favorite new menu item? Off our appetizer menu the Duck Nachos are by far the best. The Duck Nachos are our top selling appetizers and prepared skillfully with duck confit and other special ingredients to captivate anyone’s taste buds. Off our entrée menu our new Coconut Shrimp is the most unique. We take the ordinary coconut shrimp and add a Mélange twist of special ingredients to enhance all the flavors.
What is your minimum for a Saturday night event and what does that include? $12,500 and that includes; food, staffing, exclusive rental of the restaurant, non-alcoholic beverages. Tax and 20% gratuity added. Alcohol, entertainment and valet available for additional costs.
What is the capacity for a reception, and what are some space issues you face? 270 maximum and there are 144 seats in the restaurant plus our lounge area. The one space issue we face is we have our elaborate wine room that divides our restaurant in half. If a party gets larger than about 70 we would have to start separating guests into different areas.
Can I bring in my own desserts? If you are renting out the restaurant yes you may bring your own desserts. If not there is a $2 per person cutting fee. We do have an experienced pastry chef on staff that would love to make any kind of wedding cake or dessert for the special occasion.
What are you most excited about with opening up for weddings? Weddings are a totally different ball game when it comes to what we are use to. Weddings require extreme detail but allow for extreme creativity. No two weddings are ever the same so I am excited to be able to use the Mélange theme and transform that into different things for each wedding party.
What is your favorite wedding movie? The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez is my favorite wedding movie. Seeing all the extravagant events and details that go into it allows me to get some of my own creative juices flowing about Mélange. I can now come up with different ways to present our foods and different types of food that can fit all kinds of wedding themes.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you? Mélange is a Eurasian Fusion restaurant. We bring elements from all around the world to entice and excite the tongue. With our elaborate wine room and detailed cocktail list we have the perfect drink to pair with your meals. Some people might be surprised by the passion and excitement Chris and I have for Mélange and we cannot wait to share the excitement with all our guests.