I haven't been to the Galleria Melting Pot, but I have been to several other of the chain's locations, and they are quite expensive. But you can easily get out of there for less than $15/person (that's cheap at this place) if you get just one course, like only cheese, or only broth-based fondue...the portions are actually reasonably sized, so when my party has ordered the "full fondue" thing - which includes cheese, broth, and chocolate fondue courses - we were all completely stuffed and didn't finish the offerings.

I also saw the NYTimes article the other day, so I'd like to point out to the people who don't have their own fondue set that you don't need one! The Times article inspired me to throw the fondue ingredients into my enameled dutch oven and heat it over the stove. I then used plain old forks to dip my ingredients into the fondue, and it was fantastic.

Does anyone know any good broth-based "fondue" recipes? At Melting Pot, this is how the main course is served - meats and veggies and seafood are presented raw, and you cook them in a boiling pot of broth. I tried this once a long time ago, but the broth wasn't flavorful enough, and I've never been able to find a recipe like the Melting Pot's offerings...

Those are some pretty heavy accusations tzone. Easy to make in an anonymous environment I guess. Nevertheless, I totally disagree with your allegation.

I read that NY Times article, and other than some specific recipe steps (such as rubbing garlic on bowl, use of Kirsch, etc...) which are just common foundations of a near ancient classic recipe, I saw no examples of plagiarism. The NY Times article was more narrative in nature, whereas the above article was more of a reportage simply structured around a recipe building and dining experience.

On another note, when I was a teenager back in the 80's, my then girlfriend and I were eating at a fondue restaurant in NYC called La Fondue. It had a very dark and masculine dining room. Between the oak panelling, it's basement location, and the St. Pauli Girl styled uniforms (I know, that's German), it felt as if you were on a movie set. Almost like the Oliver Twist film. During the dessert course, the molten chocolate was bubbling so hard that my sweetheart thought blowing it out would be a good solution so we could actually enjoy the concoction without burning the roof of our mouths. Not such a good solution really. The flaming napalm like substance poured all over the table which instantly erupted in flames. Unfortunately, the collective gasps from the restaurants patrons was not enough to deprive the hungry flames of their desired oxygen. After about 12 seconds of increasing intensity, and visions of a Towering Inferno sequel firmly running through my head, a very stout, traditionally garbed, Swiss expat, waitress came to the rescue with a spare table cloth. As fast as the flames had erupted, they were in one strategic swoop, completely doused. The aged solid oak table was not the least bit charred, but our egos were forever damaged from the stern and lengthy, public lecture we received in the middle of that La Fondue, subterranean dining room. I haven't tried the stuff since.