Guest post by my Aunt Maggie.

Where do you go for a 28th anniversary dinner? Lorri and I chose Melange on Main Street to celebrate almost three decades together. We met on Sept. 25, 1981, on a blind date at a Tigers game where we dined on hot dogs and beer and watched a young, unknown pitcher, Jack Morris, defeat the Cleveland Indians. Although still Tiger fans today, we decided for a more sophisticated dinner for our anniversary.

Having been there twice before, we choose Melange because we had enjoyed its New York atmosphere and tasty food in the past. I decide to wear all black (except for my purple sneakers) to fit in with the downtown ambience. Lorri sticks with Ann Arbor casual.

Our question of the evening—will Melange still hold the same charm since our last visit a couple of years ago? The décor and atmosphere – definitely yes. Once again I feel transported out of the Midwest—muted red and black color scheme, rice paper and bamboo accents— wall of wine bottles behind glass—quiet jazz. Lorri especially likes the soft lighting and–“The round booths in the back—I just expect Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack to be sitting there.”

One drawback of the atmosphere—the temperature. It suffers from what I call the meat locker effect—hyper air conditioning. Not what you really need when the temperature outside is 65 degrees. We politely ask our waiter Alan—tall, dressed all in black very solicitous–if the AC can be cut back. He dutifully promises to ask the management and sure enough we shortly feel a little warmer and our goose flesh subsides.

The menu is a surprise—quite a few changes. More traditional steak and seafood entrees—fewer innovative choices—this doesn’t bode well. But we like that there is now a sushi menu.

First things first–we order our drinks. Lorri goes for the most expensive Pinot Noir and I opt for one of the three featured vodka martinis—all fruit flavored. Mine is called a Lo-Je with raspberry and cranberry–I can’t resist a pink, lemonadey cocktail. Lorri’s verdict on the pinot—“expensive wine really does taste better.” And my martini?—mmm– just like lemonade and I love it.

We decide on a sushi appetizer –Mataguro—seared tuna strips. I am attracted to the “seared” description–although I started out eating raw fish enthusiastically—over the years I’ve cravenly switched to California rolls and veggie rolls—getting a little phobic about the perils of raw—so seared sounds good to me. And so it proves to be. Perfect—the flavor of raw but a firmer texture—yummy seasonings and dipping sauce. We are hungry and gobble it down. The presentation is also a delight with a real orchid on the plate, which we keep and use as our anniversary centerpiece.

As we wait for our salad course—we have both gone a little daring, straying from our usual choices for the snap pea salad (Lorri) and the beet salad (me), we notice with delight that when you are writing in a little notebook at your table—like you might be a restaurant reviewer—you get special attention. The manager appears at our table to see if all is well—are we enjoying everything. “Did we know that the pinot we chose was created by a guy from Novi, and although he uses California wines—this is somewhat supporting the local economy.” He has made a good read of Lorri and I as members of the Ann Arbor hippy-dippy sustainability crowd.

The salads are very good. I love the carmelized onions, tasty blanched asparagus and creamy roasted red peppers—and finally at the bottom, the beets. They taste just like the beets on every salad bar in America—delicious just as they are. I once thought of writing a book called The Lowly Beet about this vegetable that is so out of the limelight and yet eaten by the millions on salad bars everyday.

We are happily buzzed as we wait for the main course and reminisce about past anniversaries—on our ten-year we took a group of friends to Tiger Stadium and had the announcement “Hostetler-Sipes Anniversary party” scrolled on the big board. For our 20th, we reserved the side room at Palio’s for a group of friends. What will we do in two years for our 30th? We also wonder about fate and luck—what would have happened if we had never found each other? We don’t even want to think about it.

We are served our entrees; for Lorri the filet mignon, medium rare and for me the sea bass. The first words from her mouth—“This is heavenly.” The seasoning was perfect and it was so tender, it melted in the mouth. From me—“Oh my God.” Wonderfully tasty and perfect texture. The entree choices may be more ordinary than in the past, but the execution is superb. I even like the bok choy on the side. The whipped potatoes and the rice, however, are a little dull.

(BTW: I am feeling a little guilty about the sea bass choice. I’ve never ordered it in the past because of rumors that it is endangered. I researched the subject a little after returning home. See the write-up below from the Wise Geek website. I will probably not choose it in the future.)

It is rare to finish a meal in an American restaurant without feeling so stuffed that dessert is out of the question. Our leisurely dinner (over 2 hours) at Melange had included modest-sized portions and lacked the usual gigantic basket of bread—in fact no bread was served—hurray. Dessert is a possibility. So we go for it. I select the Chocolate Truffle Cake and Lorri the peach cobbler. And true to the evening both are delicious.

Our verdict: Melange is still one of our favorites–definitely a home run for special occasions (such as anniversaries). And to our surprise—unlike the past—there are enough moderately—priced choices (sushi, appetizers, noodle dishes) that we could even consider eating here on a regular basis. Caveats: beware of the meat locker effect and watch out for the sea bass.

Chilean Sea Bass From the Wise Geek website
“Several things put Chilean Sea Bass at risk from overfishing. The first is that the fish are very slow to mature, and they tend to aggregate while spawning, making them easy prey for fishing trawlers. Studies on the fish have shown a steady decline in population, indicating that the popularity of Chilean Sea Bass as a food fish has put too much pressure on its population. The publicization of the plight of the fish has ironically also driven up the rate of illegal poaching, which pressures the fish even more since poached fish is not regulated or counted in national quotas.
Consumers are asked to consider alternate choices because it is difficult to determine whether or not an individual fish has been legally harvested. By reducing overall demand for Chilean Sea Bass, activists hope to reduce the appeal of poaching, which would reduce pressure on these fish and allow them to recover from their historic over fishing. Numerous prominent restauranteurs have joined forces to champion the cause of the Chilean Sea Bass, and to alert consumers to fishery conservation issues in general.”