Melting Pot Melts Our Heart

When a big chain restaurant comes to town, we don’t usually pay much attention. Eat local, friends. Support the little guy, etc.

But I’m married to a man from Miami, which is just a couple of hours away from Maitland, Florida, which is where the first Melting Pot restaurant opened in 1975. And I’ve been hearing him wax nostalgic about that place for the past nine years. Really, you’d think every happy childhood memory happened around a pot of fondue.

Which is why I spent last night at the opening party for the first ever Melting Pot in the city of Boston. Very exciting stuff.

If you’ve never been to The Pot, here’s what you can expect: lots and lots of booths. Booths upon booths, booths hidden in corners, secret booth rooms. The owners understand a simple truth: no one wants to be seen eating fondue. It’s not pretty, especially if you have a fondness for a certain “Chocolate S’Mores” sauce which is, well, all I’m saying is that it’s a good thing I wore a black shirt.

The booths made the party awkward, since people tended to cluster around the food stations, making it hard to move (Ladies—and you know who you are—the sensible place to huddle up for a bitch session about your boyfriend is not in front of the melted cheese. Especially when I’m holding a fondue fork).

But the food sure was tasty: cheddar fondue, “Fiesta” fondue (cheddar, jalepeño, tomato), spicy shrimp with dipping sauce. The s’mores sauce. Good stuff. The restaurant opens tomorrow, and they keep the cheese coming until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. I think we’ll be back.

76 Arlington St., in the Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, (617) 357-7007