Peninsula People Nov 2017

Sea Change
for THE better
Sea Change co-owners Michael and Lisa Franks with chef Reilly Quillan. Photo by Brad Jacobson (CivicCouch.com)
Chez Melange stays ahead of the curve with a new name and a new focus
by Richard Foss
There was a time when restaurants fit into
categories, serving only the French, German,
Mexican, Italian, American coffee
shop, or whatever else was their specialty. California
cuisine blew up that expectation, creating
eclectic cuisine as its own category. Suddenly you
had to scan the menu carefully and weigh unanticipated
flavor combinations in your head. The
small plate revolution followed closely, so that
not only the flavors but the whole rhythm of the
meal was freeform. It was exciting to some people,
intimidating to others, and confusing to most
until we got the hang of it.
The first establishment in the South Bay to
wholeheartedly embrace this culinary revolution
was Chez Melange, and owners Michael Franks
and Robert Bell kept things edgy for decades.
After they moved to their current location, the
front room of the restaurant became Bouzy, a gastropub
with a more stable menu, but in the main
dining room culinary exploration reigned. A few
items were perennials, but all else was as variable
as the seasons and the whims of chef Robert Bell.
It was therefore a surprise when this most daring
of restaurants announced that the main dining
room would have a new name and a new
focus. It is now Sea Change, and most of the
menu is based on things that lived underwater.
It’s a smart move. While many restaurants offer
eclectic cuisine there isn’t another restaurant in
this nightlife-intensive neighborhood that specializes
in seafood.
The interior of Sea Change has been freshened,
the room transformed from a dark and clubby
cave to a brighter and altogether more appealing
space. It’s amazing how a simple repainting and
new upholstery changed the feel of the place,
which is now much more welcoming.
The new menu is recognizably a product of the
same aesthetic that created Chez Melange, with
multicultural and whimsical elements. You can
get kung pao lobster and Thai-style curried
Hawaiian ono, but also Southern shrimp and grits
or a hangtown fry, an oyster and bacon omelet
invented during the Gold Rush. On our first visit
our party included a pescaphobe eater who focused
on the short list of Chez Melange classics
and was reassured to find there were things she
could eat as well.
We asked our server to suggest starters and
were served Boston clam chowder, an avocado
stuffed with shrimp, clam and corn fritters, a
“Japanese” salad that included seaweed, Persian
cucumber, and pine nuts, and a starter of grilled
octopus. Though we hadn’t planned it that way,
it was a tasting of seafood fads of over 200 years.
76 Peninsula • November 2017