I never got around to preparing my usual lunches for the week, so I’ve been relying on Safeway Select’s answer to Campbells Chunky Soup. They aren’t bad, but leave me ready to cook a good meal at night. Or go out somewhere. This past Tuesday coworker and increasingly published Denver photographer M.P. and I road tripped it over to The Melting Pot in Littleton. Caleb drove crosstown from the tech center and met us.

The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant. Founded in the 70s, or should I say FONDUE-ded in the 70s, (pause for groans,) their 138 franchises are located throughout the country and all follow the same concept: Each table is equipped with one or more built in burners. A three to four course meal involves utilizing these kettles for dipping your food and cooking your main course in. For appetizers your server melts down cheeses of your choice (right at your table) which then boils to perfect lava like consistency for dipping the breads and vegetables in. The main course brings selections of meats, chicken, and fish, which can be constructed individually or family style. More fondue pots are brought out for dessert, which for most people is melted chocolate with a plates of fruit, graham crackers, and pastries to swim around in.

We dined here a few years back, and it was fun going again. The downtown Littleton location is in the old public library building – so it has a stately architectural appeal instead of the usual pre-fab building. The interior is partitioned up into smaller dining areas, and many of the tables are located in small enclaves. There are even curtains to provide privacy if you’re a celebrity or just feeling frisky.

Considering the raw meat scattered about the tables, sharp skewers, searing burners inches away, and boiling cauldrons of stock and oil – I’m surprised that there aren’t more horrific scalding accidents. I don’t recommend this chain for small children, those with shaky hands, or unstable couples easily provoked to violence. I even splashed a few drops on M.P. after accidentally dropping one of my salmon wedges into our boiling pot. But if you enjoy dipping, skewering, and prodding your food, then sharing that food with friends – its makes for an eventful night out. Plus its always a fun to peer into the pot Mad Scientist style spelunking for that lost shrimp. Actually a slatted ladle is provided for scooping out escaped food. Just remember The Melting Pot demands interaction, and adhering to the responsibilities of food prep and cross contamination. And if you can balance the melted cheese and chocolate to your main course it can be very healthy too.

So back to Tuesday: not more than five minutes after making camp in our booth my friend Joey texts me offering Madonna tickets he somehow had laying around. I quickly accepted, since his rate was a fraction of the staggering $400 and $700 that a friend and coworker respectively paid. (No exaggeration.) Only problem was the show started at 8, and at 6 o’clock our server had barely commenced explaining our appetizer cheese options. Crap! I found myself thrilled to be seeing Madonna, (with floor seats no less,) yet 13 miles from downtown at the most tedious and Sisyphean restaurant in the city. I mean that in a good way – its just The Melting Pot requires patience. You don’t want to have somewhere to be. Its best done with your loved one or loved friends as an event in itself. Its the yang to the yin of Rodizio Grill, where you wield unchecked power to summon hunks of already cooked meat to your table via a rudimentary red and green wooden flag. (Yes the phrase “Hunks of Meat” at Rodizio grill certainly IS a double entendre!)

I didn’t want to rush Caleb and M.P. through our nice dinner out so I resided myself to simply arriving to the show when I got there, and not make haste. It would have been a breeze to take the train straight up to the Pepsi Center, but I had to stop home first as Joey had left the tickets in my mailbox. (Thanks again Joey.)

After an excellent time juggling big salads, veggies with melted cheese, breads, plates of salmon, shrimp, chicken, white/black chocolate dessert with cheesecake, and two martinis, we got on our way at 8pm. We spent two and a half hours in our booth – and it was worth it. Fortunately for me Madonna must have known I was at a previous engagement because she waited until well after 9:30 before starting the show. Thanks to the thousands of other folks that waited for me as well.

A pleasant aside: in addition to complimentary valet parking, upon settling the check your server will take your slip so that your car will be waiting at the door. This prevents the short but often cold wait at the kiosk. I’m sure other upscale restaurants provide this, but I don’t visit enough of them to have established a benchmark.

Pictured below in our dark booth: The dessert – a small vat of chocolate. All but the cheesecake found its way into it.

Here’s the site of the Melting Pot - for a location near you. Funny enough there’s a lot of info about franchising, but I don’t see a menu.