Restaurateur OTG has partnered with renowned pastry chef Jacques Torres to open Mélange Bakery Café in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Nicknamed “Mr Chocolate”, chef Torres consulted on the development of the concept, along with two executive pastry chefs and a team of classically-trained bakers. At full capacity, daily production at Mélange could reach 1,000+ croissants; assorted pastries and buns; 1,200+ hand-rolled New York-style bagels (including rainbow bagels); 600+ muffins; 200+ hand-crafted chocolate bars; 75+ cupcakes; 12 types of macaroons; 10 varieties of doughnuts, such as Passion Fruit and Maple Bacon; and six varieties of sweet and savory éclairs.
“The most fun I have as a pastry and chocolate chef is to surprise and delight my customers,” said Torres. “This is one of the reasons I couldn’t resist developing Mélange at Newark Liberty. You would not normally think of a world-class round-the-clock bakery being located in an airport, but that is exactly what we do for United Airlines’s customers every day.”
OTG has partnered with Valrhona Chocolates to ensure only the best ingredients are used to create hand-crafted chocolates and bonbons. The Valrhona corporate pastry chefs provided training to OTG’s team at L’Ecole Valrhona Brooklyn and on-site at Mélange. Furthermore, only imported French butter is used in the Viennoiserie.
“We’re excited to work with Chef Torres and Valrhona to bring Mélange to life at Newark Terminal C,” said Rick Blatstein, OTG’s CEO. “We pride ourselves on using the best talent and ingredients to deliver the freshest food to travelers. With Mélange, our restaurants throughout Terminal C literally can’t get fresher baked goods.”
Mélange is located in the Rockwell Group-designed Global Bazaar on the C1 Concourse in United Airlines’s dedicated Terminal C. The restaurant is part of a wider US$120m food and beverage development program, which will introduce 55 new restaurants and food markets.
