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.