Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Identity Crisis

One of my favorite new restaurants in town is Melange (formerly known as Marmalade), located in Beachwood, despite the fact that its menu offers limited vegetarian options. Having gone through an identity crisis after receiving a "cease and desist" letter for having the same name as a California catering company, Melange seems to be struggling with identifying just who should be patronizing the restaurant. It offers an upscale breakfast on weekends and a seemingly endless menu for lunch and dinner. But none of its offerings seem to hit the ball out of the park.

I've been to Melange 3 times for food and once for Happy Hour (which is not as generous as advertised on the website) and really haven't had anything that has wowed me. My waffles were drenched in powdered sugar. The mushroom lasagna was too mushroomy and cold in the middle. The eggplant lasagna was purposely cold and lacking real flavor. I've enjoyed the pyramid cheesecake and the wide variety of martinis. And as much as I love martinis and $5 martini night on Thursdays, I wasn't sure that I'd be willing to give this restaurant another chance...until I heard that Adam Schmith, of Whole Foods and One Walnut fame has been hired to revamp the menu. Coming in April, the new menu promises so be "contemporary casual." For my sake, I hope that means there will be more than one vegetarian option. Stay tuned...

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