Good to Grill at The Melting Pot

It's been years since I've sat down for a dining experience at The Melting Pot, but I did just that with a group of fellow food writers and enthusiasts last week to check out the fondue restaurant's new tabletop grilling feature.

The Melting Pot is known for its interactive dining around bubbling cauldrons of goodness, which famously includes decadent melted cheese accompanied by a tray of crudité, bread, and apples for dipping. That's precisely where we began the evening.

Mixing the cheese for our first course

The cheese fondue we enjoyed was mixed in a base of white wine, garlic, and vegetable bouillon. Our server added a dollop of cream cheese and waited for it to melt appropriately before adding Wisconsin cheddar and Emmenthaler.

Before mixing and stretching for effect, a sprinkling of black pepper and black truffle salt was added. Our server kept a close eye on temperature to ensure the cheese maintained the appropriate texture and level of heat; no rooftop burns thank you. It was delightfully good and hard to stop eatting, especially with the chunks of pretzel bread. The next day had me thinking about the unlimited cheese and chocolate fondue offered at the bar for happy hour...hmmmmm.

After a fresh salad with strawberries and goat cheese, a cast iron grill was placed on the burner in the middle of the table for the debut of the new cooking style. We had an entree combination course of garlic pepper angus sirloin, peppercorn filet, and sweet and spicy shrimp.

Steak and shrimp seasoned and ready for the grill

The entrees come with a plate of vegetables that includes asparagus, zucchini, and mushroom caps, and sampling dishes of six signature sauces for dipping and mixing at will: gorgonzola, green goddess, spicy cocktail, mild curry, teriyaki, and ginger plum.

Tabletop grilling in progress

We were given suggestions and instructions, including precautions on transferring the raw meat, and then left to our own creativity and cooking styles. The meat was tender, the seasoning so good it was almost a shame to experiment with the flavorful sauces but we did anyway.

When we flipped over the mushroom caps, we filled them with green goddess for a flavorful treat. The cooking time was quick, except for the vegetables, and placing only a couple of protein items on the grill at a time ensured they stayed the optimal temperature for eating.

Traditionally, guests at The Melting Pot choose between fondue pots filled with various broths and oils for cooking vegetables and meats. While it's not fondue, there is something about the grill that is fun to watch and feels healthful. It did get a little smoky for us at one point and our server adjusted the grill temperature to help.

The last of the four course dining experience was the famous dessert fondue. The  menu has a number of options or you can create your own combination. Ours was White Chocolate Strawberries Foster.

A dash of cinnamon adds sparks to the White Chocolate Strawberries Foster Fondue.

I can still smell the white chocolate, dulce de leche, strawberries, and cinnamon combo. The addition of the cinnamon after a dash of alcohol produced festive sparks; perfect for Instagram stories.

One of my favorite things about dining here is that things are not rushed. It's a place that fosters conversation, it's fun, it's romantic, it's whatever you want it to be. And the best part, the food is fresh and good.

Pinot Party

I was lamenting last weekend about not being able to attend the fabulous International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon, yet again. 

So to sooth my sorrows I decided to host my own pinot party.

It was also a good way to turn a party into a story for my next wine column in the Fort Myers News-Press; Gina Drinks. I opened almost a case of pinot noir, mostly from California with a couple of selections from Chile and New Zealand thrown in for giggles.

My friends actually cooperated quite well, at least in the beginning, offering impressions of the wines, guessing how much they cost, etc. As the night went on, it got a little more difficult and a lot more fun. Thanks to all who participated in helping me with this latest column which you can read here. You'll see I focused on California. With Oregon and Burgundy being the motherships when it comes to pinot, those will come another time. 

Retired Firefighter Turned Winemaker

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to attend an epic tasting through 6 decades of Charles Krug Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa. We started with a 1964 vintage. Did I say epic?

I caught a ride from the airport with Ray Hanson, owner of Destiny Wine Tours. As we chatted it up on the drive from SFO to Napa I learned about his past life as a firefighter and how he now makes wine from the cabernet sauvignon growing on his property.

He was so kind as to give me a bottle to try which I feature in my Memorial Day wine column for the Fort Myers News-Press, "Gina Drinks." Since I have a limited word count, I wanted to share an excerpt from our conversation during our ride.

Not only does Ray talk about his wine, but what it was like as a retired fireman, to go through last year's devastating fires. Take a listen:
 

An Afternoon of Drinking with Rob Mondavi Jr

Drinking bubbles with Rob Mondavi Jr in Naples

I recently was privileged to spend an afternoon drinking wine with Rob Mondavi Jr., winemaker at for the family's Michael Mondavi Family Estates in Napa Valley, California.

We tasted through his current releases at The Continental on the famous 3rd Street South in Naples, Fl, over an amazing array of food.

During the course of the tasting Rob sat with us telling stories of the vineyard, the fires, the wines in our glasses and even through the tragic tales, there were lots of laughs. It was also the most beautiful afternoon in Southwest Florida and since we had also shared our mutual love for bubbles, there was no escaping a bottle.

Walking across the street to Sea Salt, where Rob had a wine dinner scheduled later that night, we ordered a bottle of Schramsberg before calling it a day.

Read about Rob's current releases with Michael Mondavi Family Estate and which wines survived the fire here.
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Wine That Works; New Years Resolutions

Have you made or are you still in the process of making resolutions and setting goals for the New Year. Better health is one of the most popular declarations, loosing weight, eating better, etc. Why do so many people fail? I say it's because while challenging yourself, you still need to be realistic.

You don't have to eliminate wine from your diet. Cut back? Sure. Lower calorie wine options? Even better. And these are actually good...story here from my latest column in the Fort Myers News-Press.

http://www.news-press.com/story/life/food/2018/01/08/gina-drinks-dieting-and-wine-can-coexist-moderation/1011985001/