BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff The Melting Pot offers a variety of libations, showcased within the glass walls of the wine room. At left, Tinton Falls’ Debbie Mruz retrieves a strawberry from a pot of melted chocolate. A funny thing happens when food is brought to the table at The Melting Pot restaurant at the Galleria in Red Bank. Instead of settling down to a quiet dinner, patrons generally become more animated.
“It’s a very interactive appeal. You’re here for two to two-and-a-half hours talking, sharing the food,” explained co-owner Ken Kruse.
“I’ve been hearing wonderful things about the uniqueness — that it’s very interactive, that it’s really a social way of eating,” said Janine Hillyer, Kruse’s wife and business partner. “You’re not just getting a plate of food.”
“A good analogy is that we went out for dinner and there was a large party of 20 people celebrating a birthday,” Kruse said. “It was very loud, and as soon as the food came it got very quiet because people were eating. Here, that never happens. The food comes, you’re cooking, talking, you dip something into the fondue …”
The response since the restaurant’s opening during the holiday season has exceeded expectations, the couple said, adding that while reservations aren’t required, they are definitely recommended.
“We want everyone to have a good time. Laughing is greatly encouraged. That’s why people are here for two-and-a-half to three hours; you’re not just here to eat.” — Janine Hillyer & Ken Kruse co-owners “People appreciate the uniqueness, it’s not like a typical restaurant experience,” Kruse noted. “You can be on a romantic date and have your own space, but it’s also a great place to have a celebration.”
“A lot of the appeal right now is that you can’t get in,” added Hillyer, noting that Valentine’s Day weekend was booked solid a few weeks ahead of time. “It makes people want to get in even more.”
Hillyer gets the credit for discovering The Melting Pot chain during a visit to Charlotte, N.C., where her mother, Ann, and father, Jay, a retired Little Silver police officer, had relocated.
“It was just so totally unique and so different,” she explained, adding that as a local she believed the concept would fit well in Red Bank.
“I just felt the culture and the antique center and everything seems to fit perfectly,” she said. “The west end is this unique little niche, and we fit in perfectly.”
“Red Bank is kind of unique, and we thought, ‘This is something different and a lot of fun,’ ” added Kruse, noting that the only other Melting Pot in the state is in North Jersey.
“This isn’t like a chain with a lot of locations; people travel a long distance to come to it. We’ve had people travel from Basking Ridge and Trenton.”
The couple, Lincroft residents, shared an appreciation for preserving the vintage architecture of the former factory space and keyed the color scheme to the patina of the original concrete columns.
Soft down-lighting, including the chain’s signature glass bottle lights, helps set an intimate mood that is reinforced by high-walled, dark wood booths, and in a nod to Red Bank’s status as an arts center, original works by local artists.
Hillyer also had a strong personal connection to the space her grandmother and great-grandmother had worked in the Eisner factory — by her family’s account in the very space where The Melting Pot would open.
So when she went to Dorn’s to shop for photos for the restaurant interior, she looked for photos of the space.
“We spent a couple of hours looking through the photos, and I picked the best ones I could of this exact space,” she said. “I feel a part of this building.
“When my grandfather and great-aunt came, they thought they saw my grandmother in one of the pictures.”
The leisurely pace of fondue dining is unique to The Melting Pot, where, Kruse said, the average time spent dining is two hours, and it isn’t unheard of for a couple of friends to spend close to four hours over fondue.
“They just sit here and talk, and it’s fine,” he said.
But an extended meal time and cooking their own dinner is not for everyone.
“If people are coming off the street wanting a quick bite, this isn’t for them,” agreed Marie Stanton, a server at The Melting Pot. “But there are people who love it. We let them know it will be about two hours for parties of less than six, and for big parties of six and more, it’s going to be about three hours.”
At that pace, the 170 seats turn over just twice a night at the restaurant, which is open daily, 5 p.m. until 9:45 p.m. weekdays, and until 10:45 p.m. on weekends. A room for private parties of 16 or more is available during the daytime or evening.
If you haven’t experienced fondue since the height of its popularity in the 1970s, you’re not alone. But The Melting Pot franchise, founded in 1975 in Tampa, Fla., has kept the informal style of dining going since and currently has 70 restaurants in operation, with plans to open 175 by 2010.
The franchise, which requires franchisees to have total capital of $598,800 to $1 million, continues to show strong performance. Last year, it grew by 20 percent, exceeding the restaurant industry’s standard of 4 percent, according to The Melting Pot Web site.
In keeping with the informal ambiance, the menu at the Melting Pot is set up for a la carte ordering.
Each table comes equipped with a hot plate in the center where the fondue pot sits. Cheese fondue — five varieties are offered — is prepared at the table by the server, who begins with a base of beer, sherry or white wine, adds shredded cheeses, and mixes until the cheese is the consistency of molten honey. Diners spear bite-sized morsels from a platter of fresh breads, vegetables and Granny Smith apples, and dip into the fondue.
Prices for the cheese fondue are $14 for one-two people and $7 for each additional diner.
Entrees are cooked in two different methods. Diners can choose a base of heated canola oil and dip morsels ranging from shrimp to vegetables in batter, then into the hot oil. The second option is a vegetable bouillon base offered in four flavor variations. The bouillon infuses morsels with flavor.
“You’re actually cooking [the dinner] yourself,” Stanton pointed out. “It’s a lot of fun. The server will give you everything you need, including the tools, spices and sauces, and the cooking times.”
Complete fondue dinners are also available for prices ranging from $48 to $89 for two. Chocolate fondue comes in mouth-watering combinations at $14 for one-two chocoholics and $28 for three-four, accompanied by a dessert platter that comes piled with sliced bananas, strawberries, pound cake, brownies, cheesecake and marshmallows ready for dipping.
The glass walls of the wine room reveal a cache of 1,500 bottles ranging from fine champagnes to cabernets, and wines are available by the glass or bottle.
At The Melting Pot, dining out is a social ritual that can be intimate or communal, Kruse said.
“If you want to be romantic, you can ignore everything going on around you, or you can be with six people and having a good time,” he said.
“We want everyone to have a good time. Laughing is greatly encouraged. That’s why people are here for two-and-a-half to three hours; you’re not here just to eat.”