méLange

Lan Bradeen

There’s something captivating about the experience of dining at méLange. The word mélange means a mixture or a medley, and this speaks to the restaurant’s inventive food menu, the creative cocktails, and the nature of the space itself, which appears to be constantly evolving. I think that the Merriam-Webster definition most closely captures the spirit of the establishment—which also houses a hidden cocktail bar soon to be fronted by an absinthe/tea room (more about that later): “a mixture, often of incongruous elements.”

Take, for example, the Duck Brie Crepes, one of the staple items on a menu that changes seasonally. It consists of crepes filled with shredded duck, brie, currants, almonds, and a brandy cream sauce. It sounds unwieldy; it shouldn’t be so subtle and so sumptuous, and yet… The trouble with a dish like the Duck Brie Crepes—or, for that matter, the Ginger Crab Soup—is that once you’ve tried one of these perfect culinary confections you can become unwilling to explore further. I would urge you to take a friend with whom you like to share your food, encourage your friend to order your favorite dish, and then try one of the seasonal creations that Chef-Owner Lan Bradeen has conceptualized based on what’s fresh, what’s tasty, what’s unique, and what’s going to blow your mind.

The Winter Menu is about to end as I write this and I can’t help but feel a little sad to be saying goodbye to a few of my new favorite things. Did you get a chance to try the Lamb Belly or the Rainbow Trout? The latter is a filet of crispy-skinned trout, piled high with fresh mint, served on a bed of mulled wine Brussels sprouts that I know I’ll not soon forget. The former is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted: a simple piece of lightly charred, fatty lamb belly that rendered me essentially speechless. “It’s so … lamb-y.” This beautiful piece of meat is served on a bed of puréed butternut squash with crisp baby bok choy, and it’s one of those dishes that I love to eat in a restaurant because I can’t even imagine replicating it at home.

That’s the joy of Chef Lan’s whimsical approach to her menu. People love the Rabbit Tacos (another menu staple, one of her more esoteric dishes) and Lan is both surprised and gratified by the response . Rabbit is a fairly common protein in countries like Italy and France (and it’s extremely sustainable) but it’s not something that you encounter on your average Sarasota dinner menu. The rabbit meat is lean and flavorful while the mango, sour cream, and curry sauce are complementary components of this popular dish. Lan believes that presenting it as a taco dish makes it accessible to a wider audience. It’s tough to describe or define a restaurant like méLange without some context. Lan sums it up as “New American Cuisine” because people want to categorize their food—Italian, Thai, Chinese, French, Indian—but before the arrival of similarly indefinable local restaurants like Indigenous (in 2011) or Made (in 2013), at its birth in 2007 méLange was an outlier. Fortunately, Lan and her partner, Brad Coburn, never shy away from the opportunity to innovate or to educate.

Lan grew up here and she is thrilled with the influx of positive progress that is shaping a new Sarasota and giving our small town a big-city frame of reference. The mixture of incongruous elements extends to the partnership between Lan and Brad. Brad nearly vibrates with a kinetic kind of energy and Lan fairly shimmers with Zen-like calm. During dinner service Brad mixes up cocktails and conversation and Lan watches from the kitchen or the dining room as people take their first bites. She nods or smiles to herself quietly as one diner after another expresses their delight.

After dinner a transition to Pangea Alchemy Lab, the hidden cocktail bar, reveals a menu of drinks similar in essence to the food served at méLange.

Brad and Lan run both businesses together, though Pangea is Brad’s domain the way that méLange is Lan’s. The room adjacent to the restaurant, however, is a constantly evolving collaboration. Lan envisions a tearoom that serves afternoon tea and small bites (think amuse bouche, not finger sandwiches) while Brad sees an absinthe parlor that serves all manner of botanicals and digestifs. Ultimately the beauty of this mixture of seemingly incongruous elements is the ease with which they all come together.

COVID-19 Update

Lan and Brad continue to flow with changes that they came up with on their own as well as those that have been forced upon them by COVID-19. They are among a handful of Main Street restaurants utilizing parking spaces for extended outdoor dining space—”sidewalk cafés”—sanctioned by the city. The inside dining room is currently open but with social distancing and sanitizing. méLange has expanded food service to include a lunch menu and additional items for weekend brunch—such as (extremely well-received) French-style galettes. Lan intends to make many items available for a méLange market concept, which will make it easy to pick up pints of craveable crab soup or magnificent mushroom risotto, with a couple days a week dedicated to delivery. Lan says, “We have appreciated all of the support from our community and are gratified to see that the worst times can bring out the best in people.”