A Return to the Melting Pot

Fast forward 20 years, and I'm with my husband on an over-the-border shopping trip to Buffalo (where prices are cheaper and the selection is better than in Toronto). We turn a corner at the Walden Galleria and stumble upon The Melting Pot (still 'A fondue restaurant'). Pretty quickly, we decide to abandon our romantic dinner plans and eat there instead.

As we enter, I tell him how The Melting Pot always had funny little nooks, and private booths for diners. It was always dark, even in Florida where the sun was beating down on the strip mall. And it still is (dark, that is). We're seated in a corner booth for two. Naturally. Our waiter reminds us we're not in Kansas anymore, asking us if a special occasion brings us to The Melting Pot. (Actually, yes, someone else is watching our kids. All night.) We laugh and realise that for this Buffalo suburb, we are in A Place. Sure enough, the place is heaving before happy hour even begins.

We order the Four-Course Classic for two and get ready for cheese. It arrives, with bread, apples and, surprisingly deliciously, raw vegetables. It almost seems healthy. Salads arrive next - a Gorgonzola Wedge for me, and a House Salad for my husband. Our next course consists of prawns, sushi grade tuna, seasoned chicken, teriyaki chicken and Angus beef. It's all raw, of course, and we cook it in the Caribbean-style Mojo broth, which adds a little zing to the meat and vegetables. Lastly, we get a chocolate fondue that is absolutely ridiculous. First, it has pieces of flambeed almonds in it. Second, it comes with Rice Krispie bars, red velvet pound cake, cheese cake, brownies and, oh, yes, strawberries, for dipping. We barely make a dent in it. We're full and kind of amazed at how good everything has been.

Our waiter is a wealth of knowledge. We learn that the restaurant chain started outside Orlando, Florida, opened in Tampa, set up headquarters in Tampa, closed its restaurants in Tampa, and opened them everywhere else in the state. They're all franchises, and now there are more than 140 of them. In fact, the second international location is about to open in a suburb of Toronto.

So will we go without the history, the spontaneity, and the added the novelty of eating in an American mall? Not that quickly. But with European fondue a bit less accessible these days, you can be sure we'll take our kids once they're old enough to remember whose fork is whose.

Sarah Western Balzer

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Sarah Western Balzer is the editor of HITC Life. She grew up in Tampa, Florida, and lived in Washington, DC and New York before moving to London, where she lived for seven years. She now lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons. Her background is in the music industry, lifestyle relocation, and journalism. If you'd like to contribute to HITC Life, and work in banking or a field related to finance, please drop her a line (sarah.balzer@hereisthecity.com).