Langdon Street Café Space to Host New Bar and Music Venue: Sweet Melissa's

Guitar riffs will soon fill Montpelier’s 4 Langdon Street again when a new venue, Sweet Melissa’s, opens there later this spring.

Tom Moog, co-owner of Moog’s Place in Morrisville, has been in quiet, months-long negotiations with landlord Jesse Jacobs to resurrect the space occupied by the late Langdon Street Café as a restaurant and bar with nightly live music. “I’ve been following the Langdon Street Café history, and I know it was a wonderful spot and that people miss it,” Moog says.

Moog and his partners — Jason Merrihew and his wife, Melissa Merrihew, and Moog’s girlfriend, Katie Bora — are still working out a menu for the lunch and dinner spot. But Moog says they’ll probably import some of the “best apps” from Morrisville, such as dry-rubbed barbecue wings. Likely entrées involve “lots of fresh fish and fresh greens,” says Moog. “All of the food will be homemade, really fresh and delicious,”

First, though, a substantial renovation looms. Moog is currently transforming the building’s second and third floors into living quarters; downstairs, he’ll shift the interior around, creating separate bar and dining spaces, building a stage, and adding an open kitchen and second bathroom. (“I know there used to be long waits,” Moog notes.) Before they repair the ceiling, though, the owners will hire a local photographer to capture the collage of posters currently plastered there.

Behind the bar, patrons can also expect a clone of the Moog’s Place experience, with 70 beers on tap and a long, varied cocktail menu. “Ordering here is always a little bit of an adventure,” says Moog.

Rather than a rowdy venue, Moog stresses that Sweet Melissa’s will be as kid friendly as his Morrisville eatery. After all, he and Bora have their hands full with their own toddler. “Family is everything,” Moog says.