Melt Bar and Grilled, Fusian restaurants unveil new menu items

Two popular Ohio-based restaurant chains that are neighbors at the Mall at Fairfield Commons released their new fall menus over the weekend — and if these seasonal offerings are any indication, this could be the year of the Brussels sprout.

Fusian — which has three Dayton-area locations and was founded by two brothers and their childhood friend who grew up together in Oakwood — announced its “October Seasonal” menu item: Sesame Roasted Brusssels Sprouts. Fusian’s founders recommend adding it to the relatively new “Wholey Bowl,” or trying it in a chicken-sushi roll. They also suggest “spicing it up” with Sriracha.

Fusian opens at Mall at Fairfield Commons

Cleveland-based Melt Bar and Grilled, which opened its first Dayton-area restaurant in June at the Fairfield Commons Mall, next door to Fusian’s first Dayton-area location — announced several new selections, including a Brussels-sprout side dish.

Melt offers specialty grilled-cheese sandwiches with many added ingredients as well as craft beers, specialty cocktails and an eclectic atmosphere. The 5,000-square-foot Beavercreek restaurant seats more than 150 inside and another 45 on a patio.

Melt’s October seasonal sides include:

• Cider-Glazed Brussels Sprouts: roasted Brussels sprouts covered in a sweet spiked apple cider glaze. (Vegetarian item, vegan version is available.)

• Jerked Redskin Potatoes: roasted redskins with spicy/sweet Caribbean jerk sauce and scallions. (Vegetarian item, vegan version is available.)

• Featured dessert: Coconut Mango Lime Bread Pudding, with coconut bread pudding in a pool of mango lime preserves, topped with lime syrup, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, powdered sugar and toasted coconut.

ON THE MENU: Trust us — go to Melt with an empty belly

• Featured beer of the month: Dogfish Head Flesh and Blood, an IPA brewed with lemon flesh, sweet orange peel and blood orange juice.

• Featured cocktail: the Undead Tiki, a “spooky” blend of Captain Morgan rum, Blue Curacao, fresh lime and pineapple juice, house-made simple syrup with a drizzle of house-made grenadine and “gummy zombie body parts.”

• The chain is celebrating its Cleveland roots with the return of a sandwich called The Corny Beast, temporarily renamed The Rally Beast in honor of the Cleveland Indians playoff run. It consists of a jumbo all-beef hotdog, with American cheese, cornbread-battered and deep-fried, served with a spicy chipotle ketchup for dipping.

“The Rally Beast will be available until the Cleveland Indians win the 2017 World Series! Go Tribe!” Melt wrote in a release.

The Beavercreek location is scheduled to start offering delivery in early November, Melt officials said.

The Lakewood, Ohio-based Melt Bar & Grilled was named to the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. Melt ranked 4,906th on the list, with 2016 revenue of $17.6 million and a three-year annual growth rate of 44 percent, according to the Inc.com web site.

Melt was founded in 2006 and operates nine locations in northern and central Ohio in addition to the Beavercreek restaurant. Its 11th restaurant is scheduled to open Nov. 6 in Canton.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.