I feel somewhat snobbish (especially after talking about living simply…) for even admitting this, but I love a good fine dining experience. Good food, nice atmosphere, dressed nice, etc etc. I really enjoy it. I LOVE trying new foods and specials and working “from the outside in” with the silverware. Yes. I said it. I enjoy the classy dinners. And proper etiquette. I’m a big fan. Sure, I’ve had my share of paper and plastic meals. Plenty. Grandmama’s Summer Camp. For 14 years. Grandmama taught us our etiquette, too, (I must give her proper credit) when had those lovely formal family holiday dinners. The kids were always in the “other room” for a reason. We knew how to eat formally but preferred to cause a raucous.  It’s more fun that way.

John overdid himself Saturday night. He made reservations for a date night at The Melting Pot. HE made the reservations. Days in advance. I think he really wanted to go there. I’ll let you know if that happens anywhere else. We don’t go out often (he really likes to grill and we generally both have loads of homework or tests to study for), so it was a really nice treat.   Insert blushing here.

It was first for both of us (the Melting Pot experience), so we had no idea what to expect. We guessed it’d be a lot of food and a lot of fun. Emphasis on the LOT. Yea, it was that. and more.

They are running an awesome dinner special. Check it out if you are in for a nice date night.

The starter: I can’t find the exact cheese fondue we had, but it was pretty close to this. The whole grain mustard and nut meg wasn’t in there, though.

John picked the caesar (toasted pine nuts are AWESOME in a caesar salad). I picked the California. I’m a sucker for the cheese.

Next, the we chose this “pot” for our main course(s). Plural. It was a TON of food.

We spent the next hour cooking the following meats (substitute sirloin for the bratwurst) in the coq au vin and oooooing and ahhhhhing at the magnificence. Seriously. It was incredible. The meat came raw on a plate. We took our skewers, stabbed us a piece of meat, and let it sit in the coq au Vin for about 2 minutes to cook. Everything was wonderful. There were so many awesome sauces, too.  Too many choices. Dang.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we chose the dessert (after sitting for about 15 minutes to let our stomachs digest the goodness we had just consumed).  We chose white chocolate (I’m not a huge dark or milk chocolate fan) with Baileys and Carmel.  The waitress bought everything to the table to make the fondue (every course is like it’s own show).  You curious to know what we dipped in the fondue?  CHEESECAKE, brownies, rice krispies, strawberries, pound cake, oreo covered marshmallows, and graham cracker covered marshmallows. ENOUGH SAID.

Go to their website and sign up for their mailing list. You get a free chocolate fondue dessert for two.  It’d be an awesome place to go just for dessert.  Actually a cute couple brought their young daughter in for dessert. She was so cute and excited.

Save your money. Go. You won’t regret it.

I already started counting my change for our next visit.