The Melting Pot Experience

Yesterday was Josh's birthday.  To celebrate we were able to go out for a quiet evening together.  We had some generous friends offer to watch the boys for us and we were off.  We had heard about the restaurant The Melting Pot while we lived in Colorado but never took the opprotunity to go.  Apparently they are a chain and there is a Melting Pot here in Columbia.  The Melting Pot serves fondue and it turned out to be a fun, though rather expensive, experience.

The atmosphere was very intimate.  The tables were secluded and the lighting dim.  Each table has its own heat plate intigrated into the surface and the food is mixed and cooked right there in front of you.

We started with a cheese fondue.  We chose the spinach and artichoke fondue.  The waiter/chef comes out with a tray of ingredients and proceeds to mix our cheese right there.  He made it look SO simple and it was really good.  The ingredients he used were chicken broth, minced garlic, chopped spinach and artichoke hearts, and cheese (some white soft cheese) grated.  He mixed that all in the pot (double boiler) then added a bit of parmesan cheese (fine grate) and a titch of tabasco sauce.  The cheese fondue came with bread cubes, tortilla chips, apples, celery, carrots, and califlower to dip. 

Our dinner consisted of a broth mix and a platter of raw meat.  The broth started with a chicken (maybe it was vegetable) broth base and they added some fresh orange juice, fresh lime juice, garlic, and cilantro.  The meat platter was a wide array of options including lobster, shrimp, chicken, brautwerst, and steak- all raw.  There was also a vegetable platter that included broccoli, red potatos, and mushrooms.  They also provided us with 7-8 different little dishes of dips.  The idea was to stab the raw meat and place it in the broth -that was at a rolling boil- and leave it in there for 2-3 minutes until it was cooked then dip it in one of the sauces and eat it.  It was a really fun way to cook and eat your dinner!  My favorite dip was one that had sour cream, cream cheese, chives and maybe garlic in it.  It was super yummy on the vegetables.

Dessert consisted of chocolate fondue - of course!  We got the turtle mixture which was chocolate, carmel, and pecans.  The dippers included strawberries, pound cake (white and chocolate), rice krispie treats, bananas, and marshmallows. (Sweet memories!)

I'm going to be keeping my eye out for a fondue pot and figure out how to do all this at home!  It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed my evening with the birthday boy.  Happy Birthday, my love!  I love you so much!