ENSO brings big city to E.L.

New restaurant, club lounge serves up Asian-fusion cuisine

When you think of East Lansing hot spots, the word “swanky” isn’t one that typically comes to mind, but just that sort of place is being brought to the MSU community in the form of new restaurant and club lounge ENSO, 16800 Chandler Road.

The new addition is designed to make patrons feel as though they have been transported from the MSU community to a big city, incorporating much of the style found in the more sophisticated aspects of the Las Vegas club scenes.

“What makes it unique is that it fits into a small niche of places that have been put into East Lansing understanding that there are people who have good taste,” said Camron Gnass, owner of Vision Creative. “It’s not just another cookie-cutter sports bar.”

The restaurant will, in this sense, bring what co-owner Harry Saites hopes is a big city feel to a smaller town, which many feel will be a unique angle to present to
East Lansing residents. Economics senior and ENSO bartender Steve Flintoff said that this was one of the reasons he was drawn to the establishment.

“It’s very unique and it’s something that will draw a lot of attention,” Flintoff said. “I think the uniqueness of the place will draw a lot of the crowd that doesn’t like to be in the East Lansing bars, because they’re all the same.”

ENSO’s menu items range from standard items such as sandwiches, pasta dishes and steak to less traditional options like Short Rib Roll, which features ribs inside of a regular sushi roll.

“Our food is going to be something different that nobody else has, and our little fire features and our waterfall features — just the zen of the place,” Saites said.

With the menu boasting options for everyone — including that of the vegetarian variety — food is not the only thing ENSO will have to offer, with not only a fully stocked bar inside, but one on its fire-lit patio as well.

Although many people are attracted to the aesthetics of the new establishment, some would be taken aback to know just how they came to be, using entirely local resources to create the sophisticated atmosphere.

“When people go into the restaurant and they experience everything about it, I
would expect them to be surprised that it was not only conceived by people in this community, but that everything was developed by people in this community,” Gnass said. “Overall, this is a local production that has such a worldly feel to it.”

Patrons of ENSO appreciate the fact that the restaurant is a true East Lansing product, as well.

“I like that it’s locally owned,” Lynne Zelenski said. “A lot of restaurants in East Lansing are chains and it’s nice to have a locally owned and customized restaurant.”

The “worldly feel” of the lounge, which features a private room for 50 that can be transformed into a dance floor, has given the restaurant an atmosphere that many people would describe as unique for the area.

“I don’t think there’s anything exactly like this in the East Lansing area,” patron Wally Markham said. “This type of nice lounge atmosphere — (it’s) one of a kind.”

Like many East Lansing bars, ENSO will offer a DJ at night for those looking to enjoy more of a club scene; however, the sleek atmosphere still will maintain the unique spin the lounge will offer to the MSU community.

Flintoff believes it has potential to be very popular among students, seeing as it is offering significantly different flavor to the normal bar mix.

“It’s something that (students) don’t get to experience in East Lansing, but it’s available to them is they want to come here,” Flintoff said.