Mel & Fell delivers Mother’s Day meals and gifts
Photo by Mae Stier
From staff reports
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10, and this year is going to look different from years past. Families won’t be visiting from downstate, favorite restaurants will be closed for Mother’s Day brunch. While it is easy to focus on the disappointments of the current situation, Mel & Fell catering and meal delivery service in Empire hopes to offer some joy in the midst of it, the new venture stated in a media release.
Mel & Fell has already been happy to deliver meals and flowers as gifts to neighbors during their weekly meal deliveries, purchased by friends and family who live out of the area. They are excited to extend the gift-giving spirit as a way to celebrate moms this Mother’s Day.
Mel & Fell has teamed up with five local artisans and businesses to create a selection of gift offerings to be delivered with their Mother’s Day menu. The menu will feature Melanie’s Earl Grey Scones, quiche and more. You can place an order just to receive a meal, or you can add any of the offered gift items to your delivery. The menu will include an option to add-on a wine pairing from Amoritas Vineyard, based in Lake Leelanau.
They are also partnering with Grocer’s Daughter Chocolates to provide gift boxes and chocolate bars as sweet additions to the meal delivery. They have sourced candle collections from In the Stars Candles, and cards from Wander Gather in Cedar. Spring bouquets will be available from Leelanau Specialty Cut Flowers.
To order a meal as a gift, send Mel & Fell an email at melandfellg (at) gmail.com, or sign up for the newsletter on their website. You will then receive the Mother’s Day menu, including pricing for locally sourced gifts. Orders must be placed by Wednesday, May 6; food & gift items will be delivered on Saturday, May 9. You’ll need to have the gift recipient’s address and ensure they’ll be home (or have a cooler or refrigerator accessible for food drop-off). Their delivery area is within a 15-mile radius of Empire.
Read more on their website.
Mel & Fell’s story
Tim and Melanie Griffith met in 2003 when she began waiting tables at Beverly Hills Grill, in Beverly Hills, Michigan, where Tim had been cooking for the past seven years.
Over the next eight years, they both moved up into managing rolls with the company—Mel as dining room manager and Tim as sous chef. The restaurant was named Detroit Free Press‘ Restaurant of the Year in 2007.
Tim’s nickname in the kitchen was “Big Fella,” because he is 6’5″. Within that time they had married and eventually the “Mel and Fell” name was coined. Prior to Beverly Hills Grill, Tim cooked at Diamond Jim Brady’s in Novi. Melanie pursued her interest in gardening to an associate degree from Oakland Community College in landscape horticulture in 2010.
By this time the pair had been spending all their vacation time at Mel’s family cabin in Empire. In 2011 they made the leap and moved north. First they worked in Traverse City, where Tim cooked at Amical and Mel waitressed at Trattoria Stella. It took until 2017 when Mel took a job managing the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company’s Glen Arbor cafe before they moved into Empire full time.
In the spring of 2018 they had a booth at the Empire Asparagus Festival, serving a gluten-free vegan Pho. They continued the festivals with Leelanau Uncaged in Northport and Hops Festival in Empire that fall, with similar light dishes.
“People were happy to see something allergy free and healthy at these events,” said Tim. “We started realizing our niche.”
In spring of 2019 they joined Mae Stier at Blue Heron Mercantile, making prepared foods and baked goods (Blue Heron has since closed). They focused on vegetarian and lighter, seasonal meals, that they weren’t seeing in local restaurants. They strive to use local farmers.
Mel & Fell have done a few dinners with Amoritas winery and their wine club releases. The Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society had them cater their donor appreciation event last fall.
To keep the interest and momentum going, they launched a meal subscription service to Empire and surrounding areas. Learn more on their website.
This story was sponsored by Martha’s Leelanau Table in Suttons Bay
