When you get fondue pots for gifts, it's a waste to watch them sit on the shelves. And, of course, you can get fondue at a restaurant. Geja's is quirky and interesting, but their decor and menu are stuck in 1975, and while I like the decor in a time warp, it's a challenge getting excited over tartar sauce and shrimp cocktail. Melting Pot looks like it has an interesting menu, but it has too much of a shopping-mall chain feel to it.
So why not have a fondue party? So for starters I went over to my favorite shop, Pastoral. And no, they're not paying me to say this. Seriously.
A key ingredient, I found from a friend of mine, is Appenzeller cheese (actually Comte' which according to the owner is the French version of the same cheese), which gives a nuttiness and acidic tang to the traditional Emmentaler, which is Swiss cheese to you and me, and Gruyere. My bottle of kirsch, which I only use for fondue, was used to break up the cheese and give a nice hint of cherries. And to top things off, dipping cheese fondue must be done with chopped up French baguettes.
The mid course, oil fondue, was served with beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin, scallops, and shrimp. Not many of my guests ate the pork, and lucky for me, because I marinated the tenderloin in lime juice with chili powder, cardamom, and cumin, whcih breaded to seal in the flavor. Yum, the pork won!
The best part was saved for last, with Belgian Callebaut dark chocolate fondue mixed with creme fraiche, served with strawberries and bananas.
So hasn't anyone figured this out? Where can one go, other than leaving their house, beside the sterile confines of the Melting Pot? Well I can make you up some fondue if you bring over a bottle of Petrus, followed by Chateau d'Yquem for dessert.
Sorry we missed the party. Thanks for rubbing it in.
Posted by: josh | November 23, 2007 at 11:17 PM
Skip the oil. Use stock instead. It's tastier, better for you and can be used with leftovers as soup.
Posted by: Cheryl | November 25, 2007 at 03:11 PM
Thanks Cheryl. I'll try stock for a change for my next party.
Posted by: Brian | November 25, 2007 at 08:06 PM
Check out the February 2008 issue of Vogue. Jeffrey Steingarten devotes his column to fondue. And here in Chicago you can go out to Geja's at 340 W. Armitage.
Posted by: Liz | February 08, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Thanks Liz. I ate at Geja's roughly four years ago. Interesting place, it's like walking into the '70s with the flamenco guitar and retro atmosphere (even the sauces were retro, like tartar sauce, shrimp cocktail sauce etc.) The cavernous atmosphere was kind of interesting as well. I couldn't pull up Vogue on line, but will maybe talk my wife into buying a hard copy!
Posted by: Brian | February 09, 2008 at 11:43 PM
I don't know how I keep getting sucked into the fondue thread, but there's also Fondue Stube on Peterson that also looks like the 1970s. http://www.fonduestube.com/
Posted by: Cheryl | February 11, 2008 at 11:44 AM