Metz Culinary Management, Inc. (Metz) has partnered with the Melbourne Orlando International Airport to create, design, build and manage exciting dining and gift concessions for the facility, created to delight airport guests and provide a top-shelf experience. The project represents a significant investment for the airport, with the goal of enhancing its international terminal and showcasing UK-based TUI Airlines, which has located its U.S. hub at Melbourne.
To begin the project, Metz teamed with Nudell Architects, a Detroit firm with a local presence in Florida, and area general contractor M.H. Williams. Metz hired 30 additional employees to operate the completed restaurant and retail spaces.
New dining and retail concessions include:
· The Tap Room & The Tap Room ToGo
· Butcher Block – Food on the Fly
· Coastal News and Gifts
· CorePlus Duty Free
Dining spots feature popular American cuisine with a creative twist and offer favorites such as burgers, flatbreads, salads and sandwiches. Menu items often highlight local cuisine with offerings from ribs with a guava barbecue sauce to pork nachos with house-made roasted pepper salsa and more.
“Metz’s vision for The Tap Room and The Tap Room ToGo brings local culture and dining fare to airport guests in a brew-pub-meets-coastal concept,” said Rick Sell, Vice President of Restaurant Operations for Metz Culinary Management. “Spotlighting unique beers from the very popular local Melbourne beer scene has proven extremely popular with travelers.”
The Tap Room and The Tap Room ToGo boast tropical colors with a brewpub feel. Guests enjoy beers from four local breweries, which are also featured on a large tap wall. These include:
· Intercoastal Brewing
· Hell’n Blazes Brewing Co.
· Playalinda Brewing Co.
· Florida Brewing Co.
Butcher Block – Food on the Fly is a sandwich and salad to-go concept in an exposed brick and barn-chic design. All menu items in this location are Metz ‘Chef Fresh’ house-made sandwiches and salads. Boos brand butcher blocks are prominently displayed throughout the space.
The restaurants are slated to offer mobile ordering and kiosks so sandwiches and salads are prepared and ready for pick-up for the time-challenged traveler in the near future.
Retail spaces include Coastal News and Gifts and CorePlus Duty-Free. Coastal News and Gifts offers an array of snacks, convenience items, books, magazines and newspapers in a sophisticated environment. CorePlus Duty-Free gives travelers the opportunity to pick up popular duty-free gifts before flying out to their destination.
“Traveling these days is challenging, and we wanted to give guests at the Melbourne Orlando Airport white glove treatment to support an enjoyable travel experience,” said Sell.
