When United Airlines’ Terminal C at Newark Liberty completes its $120 million re-imagining, 55 new restaurants and food markets will have opened their doors to serve more than 350,000 customers who travel through the terminal each week. It takes a small city to create these culinary experiences daily, and that city now includes Mélange Bakery Cafe, a 24-hour production bakery inside the airport, providing the freshest baked goods to travelers terminal-wide.
Chef Jacques Torres, renowned for French pastries and fine chocolates, consulted on the development of the concept, along with two executive pastry chefs and a team of classically trained bakers under them.
“The most fun I have as a pastry and chocolate chef is to surprise and delight my customers,” said Chef Jacques 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 customers every day.”
At full capacity, daily production at Mélange can comprise of 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 eclairs.
“There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked goods coming out of the oven to bring a smile to your face,” said Gavin Molloy, United’s vice president of corporate real estate. “With Mélange, our Newark customers have the opportunity to indulge in fare from one of the world’s best pastry chefs – either as a pre-flight treat, a to-go option to enjoy inflight or even as a quick pick-me-up upon arrival.”
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 onsite at Mélange. Further, only imported French butter is used in the Viennoiserie.
“We’re excited to work with Chef Torres and Valrhona to bring Mélange to life for United customers at Newark Terminal C,” said Rick Blatstein, OTG’s Chief Executive Officer. “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 immersive, Rockwell Group-designed Global Bazaar on the C1 Concourse in United’s Newark Liberty Terminal C.
Mélange and Chef Torres were recently featured in United’s Big Metal Bird video series, which showcases the wide range of baked goods produced every day.
