Barely Controled Chaos

Daughter of Food has held back an important piece of information about her private life which now must be revealed. Daughter of Food has two very small children, twin babies. This adds to the difficulty of eating out, as it means that either she pays $60-$100 for the night of babysitting or she brings the babies with her. Daughter of food is ever the brave adventurer, and is willing to attempt even the most difficult on the baby scale for eating out. Here is a description of Daughter of Food, Husband of Food, Friends of Food and Babies of Food pushing the envelope in the search for a new food experience.

So, the other day, Friend of Food and I, Daughter of Food, decided that it would be loads of fun to try The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant in Pasadena, California. She has a two year old; I have two babies, what could go wrong? We made reservations, four adults and three high chair sitting children for dinner around six o’clock. Now the restaurant was great sitting us in a small room with only two large tables and no other guests to start the meal. As we had never been there before, we hadn't thought of all of the dangers. Hot steamy fondue pots boiling away at the center of the table to burn our hands on, granite table tops to bonk our heads on, numerous knobs and switches at the table's end to turn and play with. This was going to be an adventure. We juggled babies, handled fire, and spun plates like we were on the Ed Sullivan show. Four delicious courses, three fondues, two diaper blowouts, and one incredibly kind waiter later, we were done with dinner. Only the toddler suffered a minor bump on his head while jumping up and down on the booth seat, but it was somewhat expected that we would not come away completely unscathed. The twins loved their chance to sit in real high chairs for the first time and the parents were glad for the chance to eat with others who didn't mind the insanity of young children.

Now for the food... The traditional Gruyere cheese fondue was good, the cheddar was not great, but passable, the "Big Night Out" with the fillet was very good, and the two chocolate fondues (dark and peanut butter) were excellent. We had the meal for three people which was more than enough food for four. With drinks, the meal ran about $50 per person. Again, the service was excellent. Get a babysitter for this one, or take the kids if they are older... They'll love it.

The Melting Pot
88 W. Colorado Blvd., 2nd Floor 91105
Phone: (626) 792-1941