Having moved from a cramped space in a crowded block on Hamilton Avenue to the ground floor of the Gantry building, funky little Melt Eclectic Café debuted brand-new digs this summer. The vegetarian-friendly eatery now dominates a prominent corner in what owner Molly Wellmann calls “the heart of Northside.” With more than twice as much space, a completely different vibe and a new, full-service bar overseen by Cincinnati’s unofficial cocktail queen, the new Melt is poised to become a dominant neighborhood hangout.
And yet, when it comes to the food menu, the new Melt is very similar to the old Melt. I’ll admit I was expecting something a little different, but so far at least, the only notable menu changes emanate from Wellmann’s bar, not from the kitchen.
Melt’s niche has been top-notch sandwiches, especially grilled ones filled with oozy cheeses. Judging by the activity I’ve noticed on my frequent drives up Hamilton Avenue, that fare is attracting plenty of patrons not from just Northside but also from adjacent neighborhoods such as Clifton and College Hill.
Melt opened in early July with dinner only, but added lunch hours by the end of the month. Wellmann said they are going one step at a time until the finished product looks just like she and her team envision. That vision includes a front-porch-style patio dining area, Sunday brunch and the eventual addition of more entrée-like dinner options. Getting the patio up and running is on the front burner now, with the best weeks of the year for outdoor dining just ahead. While patrons can eat at an outdoor table now, the liquor license for that space hasn’t come through yet.
My husband and I went with four friends on a Friday night just a couple of weeks after Melt opened its doors. I was sorry to see that Wellmann wasn’t behind the bar that night; she told me later that she was participating in a charity event. Naturally, the first thing our table wanted to try were some of the special cocktails created especially for Melt ($8 each). We sampled three of the four “Molly’s Signature Cocktails,” most of which were tall, refreshing and relatively light, which seemed appropriate not only for the hot summer weather but also for the unfussy food.
Our consensus favorite is called Blue-Bell, a pretty drink made with vodka, lime, lavender syrup, blueberries and sparkling water. Lime in the Coconut was a hit, too: white rum, lime, cilantro, a little coconut syrup and sparkling water. I ordered the exotic-sounding Smoking Jacket, with bourbon, cedar-cherry syrup, tobacco bitters and black iced tea, but I asked for the drink on the rocks and pretty much ruined it when the ice melted so fast in the heat. Next time I will drink it as intended: up.
As a friend we ran into that night quipped, the menu at Melt consists of “sandwiches… and more sandwiches.” That’s pretty close to the truth, although the bill of fare features medium- and large-sized salads along with a short list of housemade sides. Most of our table chose one of the 10 fresh-baked sandwiches ($10-$11), the grilled ones that I think of as Melt’s signature style. They consist of a protein (roasted chicken, smoked turkey, brisket of beef or tempeh strips, mostly), various additions and something cheesy.
I’ve always loved the Artichoke Melt — served open-faced with a garlicky artichoke-spinach spread, tomatoes and white cheddar — but somehow nobody I was with ordered it that night.
I had the Verde Chicken, a grilled sandwich with a pleasing flavor profile of pesto, artichoke, other veggies and melted provolone cheese. Another hit was the East Village, topping smoked turkey with lots of creamy goat cheese surrounded by grilled sourdough bread. (Wellmann told me that this sandwich is her personal favorite and that as soon as the kitchen was up and running, she asked the staff to make her the very first East Village of the new Melt.)
There were some missteps. Our server brought food for five of us, and told our friend Paul that his sandwich would be right out. We were halfway through our meal when his brisket-based, grilled-on-rye showed up, with no apologies and no offer to comp him for the wait. On top of that, he thought the sandwich wasn’t very good — the meat dried out, with too little of the promised wild mushrooms and horseradish cream, and after he shared a bite I had to agree.
Sandwiches come with tortilla chips, but for another dollar you can add one of the housemade sides, and most of us did. The Superfood Slaw had a nice crunchy freshness, and the Buffalo Mac pleased the mac and cheese fans.
A few of the salads ($10-$14) sounded interesting, although we only managed to try one of them. Donna couldn’t decide until the last possible minute between the Apple Beet (greens, beets, apple slices, walnuts and goat cheese with balsamic) or the Inverted Spring Roll (spinach, scallions, cilantro, carrots, bean sprouts, red pepper, cucumbers and almonds with ginger hoisin vinaigrette). She went with the latter and asked for added chicken ($2 upcharge). The chicken was dry and strangely flavored. Donna couldn’t decide whether the kitchen had mistakenly added tuna, and the rest of us weren’t sure, either. Our server assured us it was chicken, though.
Despite a few glitches on our visit, I’m excited to see what Melt might become. If the past is a prologue to the future, anything that Wellmann puts her heart and soul into has turned out fine. She’s solidly behind making this new venture a success, which is great news for the neighborhood.
Melt Eclectic Café
GO: 4100 Hamilton Ave., Northside; CALL: 513-818-8951; INTERNET: wellmannsbrands.com/melt-cincy; HOURS: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
This article appears in Aug 16-23, 2017.