Chez Melange

Good old Chez Melange, I am happy to report is still good. We were invited last night by our friends and though I haven't been there in a long time it was nice to see a variety of very different things in their menu.  They had small plates, sharing plates, medium and large plates. The menu had a seafood cart, veal sweetbreads, organic rabbit loin, quail, lamb and of course several kinds of steaks for ones that are less adventurous.

Mertz and I had the Winter Salad with arugula, yams, pepitas, parmesan cheese with orange vinegar and pumpkin seed oil dressing. The salad was good but I really liked John's Skillet Bread which had gruyere cheese, sauteed mixed exotic mushrooms, garlic, parsley, truffle oil topped with a fried egg.  It looked more like a baked brie. It was delicious.

For our entree, 3 of us had the  10 oz. Flatiron Steak. This was a grilled, blackened, sliced with bbq butter, spinach and bacon served with cheddar mashed potatoes. The bbq butter was a nice touch and it added a good flavor to the steak.

John had the Veal Sweetbreads for his entree.  This was cooked like the Chinese orange chicken served with steamed rice and cilantro.  I dislike sweetbreads so I didn't try any. I assumed he liked it since he did not send it back and managed to finish all of it.

At first, nobody wanted dessert but Mertz insisted and twisted my arm (again).  We decided to order the Bananas Foster and the "Revenge is Sweet" Monte Cristo. This was the best dessert. It was a French toast with candied bacon (already a winner), brie oozing in between the bread, gingered berry compote and sprinkled with powdered sugar. That alone could have been my main entree!

Service couldn't have been better. Daniel, Michael Frank's son took good care of us. Daddy Frank came by to say hello and made sure we were well taken care of.

Chez Melange is located at 1611 S. Catalina Ave. in Redondo Beach, California.