The Melting Pot

[Ginny]

Last weekend my husband and I ate at a Melting Pot in Philadelphia (It is a fondue style restaurant). I asked our server not to put bread on my plate because I had a gluten-allergy. She immediately knew what I was talking about and said that they had to make our cheese fondue differently (I guess they usually use flour in it to help it have a good consistency), but that they had a recipe to make it gluten-free. She recommended that my husband not dip his ravioli in the fondue until I was finished using it---I knew this, but I was impressed with her level of knowledge. Overall we had a wonderful experience there, and I didn't get sick. They were so accomodating! There are Melting Pots all over the country and it is one of my favorite places to eat.

[NicoleAJ]

Wow, I just assumed that Melting pot would be totally out of the question. I've made both cheese and chocolate fondue at home, but I never would have trusted it out of the house. It's nice to know that Melting Pot is so accomodating for celiac customers--I may have to give them a call and see if they are all so knowledgeable.

[grantschoep]

I just asked this question of the The Melting Pot down the street from my house, they said the gluten free list is specific to different stores, this reply is for one in Lousiville, CO, USA. There's not much there, but sounds like it could be done...

Gluten in Melting Pot Sauces and Products

Updated 10/06/06

We have been receiving questions from our guests regarding gluten in our products. Many people have allergic reactions to gluten, which is contained in anything prepared with wheat or wheat flour. Below is a list of menu items served at the Melting Pot that contain Gluten

or wheat flour.

Cheese Fondues:

All the cheeses for our fondues are prepped by blending with flour and contain gluten.

Unopened bags of shredded cheese from Roth Kase do not contain flour; they use potato starch for anti-caking which is safe for people allergic to wheat flour or gluten.

Gluten free cheese fondue can be made by taking the required amount of cheese directly from an unopened bag and in a clean bowl blending a small amount of potato starch into it. Taking care to label and store it separate from cheese station until needed.

The Cheddar Cheese fondue, Fiesta Cheese fondue, and some Featured Cheeses are made with a beer base, which contains gluten.

The cheeses can be made with a milk base as a substitute for beer.

No bread or crostini as they contain gluten also, serve extra fruits and vegetables. Tortilla chips can be served if the nutrition information states that they are gluten free.

Salads:

Our Salads and Dressings are fine.

Do not serve croutons.

Entrees and Fondue Cooking Styles:

Our broths contain gluten.

Fondue Bourguignon, which is a cholesterol free canola oil cooking style, is fine.

Both the Teriyaki Sirloin and the Teriyaki Sauce contain gluten.

Substitute tenderloin as a beef item where available, or substitute filet for an additional charge.

Do not serve either batter as they also both contain gluten.

Desserts:

The Cookies & Cream Marshmallow Dream and the Chocolate S

[Guest cassidy]

There was a post on this a while ago. I thought I was on to something when I remembered the Melting Pot. Apparently, it depends on your store. Some of them are very accomodating and others aren't willing to help at all. Since even the broth contains gluten I was leary of trying it because I wouldn't want to use oil and I might feel a bit weird about bringing in my own chicken broth. I still haven't called my local one but it might be worth a try.

[jaimek]

Ginny,

Exactly which melting pot did you go to? The one in Chestnut Hill, downtown or King of Prussia? I would love to go there, but I know there are numerous ones in the Philly area.

thanks!

[elonwy]

It very much depends on which location. In Southern California I got a resounding "no" from both locations, and corporate pretty much said "don't come in" but alot of people on the East coast seem to have had good luck. Things are different up here in the Bay Area though, I might see if there is one here.

Elonwy

[Ginny]

Jaimek,

It was the one downtown. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, it's been a while since I've been online. Good luck and enjoy!

Ginny

[gfsara1103]

I also had the privilege in going to the Melting Pot and having a gluten-free meal. In Pittsburgh,PA at Station Square is the one I went to. I called them ahead to see if I could bring my own bread on, which i did. They they preceded to cut up my bread to little square pieces just like the regular ones. Also, the waitress knew exactly how to make a gluten-free (no beer or flour) cheese fondue. She was very careful about it.. I'll never forget that wonderful experience. I can't wait to go again! It is pricey there, but well worth it.

[jaten]

Gluten in Melting Pot Sauces and Products

Updated 10/06/06

.....We have been receiving questions from our guests regarding gluten in our products. Many people have allergic reactions to gluten, which is contained in anything prepared with wheat or wheat flour......

Is anyone else thinking the Melting Pot is missing somethings here? Barley? Rye? Oats...??? (whatever your stance on oats, according to a lot of research, it is true that about 10% of people with Celiac react to a protein in oats similarly to gluten)

Barley or malt is frequently used for flavoring, and the Melting Pots need to know that barley also contains gluten.

Rye? I had never run up against rye until about 6 weeks ago, in a restaurant in another town. A restaurant chef came out to talk with me. He, too, believed in what the Melting Pot statement says. This particular chef at a very nice restaurant (not MP) thought wheat was the only grain a Celiac/gluten-intolerant needed to avoid. In that circumstance, I avoided what surely would have been a glutening by giving him more information (he really thought he understood before). Of 3 of the dishes he was considering preparing for me, 1 contained rye (go figure) & 2 contained barley or malt.

[GFspouse]

I also had the privilege in going to the Melting Pot and having a gluten-free meal. In Pittsburgh,PA at Station Square is the one I went to. I called them ahead to see if I could bring my own bread on, which i did. They they preceded to cut up my bread to little square pieces just like the regular ones. Also, the waitress knew exactly how to make a gluten-free (no beer or flour) cheese fondue. She was very careful about it.. I'll never forget that wonderful experience. I can't wait to go again! It is pricey there, but well worth it.

We had a similar experience at the Melting Pot in Lexington, KY last night when we celebrated our anniversary. I called ahead to inquire about the gluten-free menu. At first the response was a bit hesitant, but then she said she would do the research and call or email me back. Less than 24 hours later, I received the following email:

Recently the Melting Pot changed the bouillon they carried to a gluten-free recipe so that consumers like yourself could enjoy all that we have to offer instead of just the bourginnone cooking style (canola oil). Now every cooking style is available to you: Coq au Vin, Mojo, Court Bouillon, and as always, canola oil. We can also use certain brands of corn starch or potato starch (do you know where I can find this? Whole Foods?) that are gluten-free as well to 'flour' the cheese for the cheese fondue that you may order. (My favorite is the Caribbean cheese that we are featuring until the end of the month!)

I'm sorry that I couldn't be of assistance earlier, I just didn't want to tell you something wrong and not be able to accomodate your needs when you arrived.

Here is a list of items that you do not want to order however, as they are on the allergen list that we have made:

-Bread as a dipper with your cheese--you may get more dippers of any sort though to substitute!

-Croutons and Caesar dressing

-Teriyaki Sirloin

-Potstickers (These only come on the Pacific Rim but can be substituted as well as anything else)

-any ravioli

-Teriyaki Sauce

-Sesame and Tempura batters

-Cookies & Cream Marshmallow Dream

-Chocolate S'mores

-Cheesecake

-Brownies

-Pound Cake

-Graham Crackers

-Oreo Crusted Marshmallows

-Oreo crumbs

For your dessert dipper plate you can get all strawberries, we also carry fresh pineapple which is awesome in dark chocolate.

So, I called to make a reservation immediately. However, since I was booking with less than 24 hours notice, I decided to take an unopened bag of potato starch just in case she didn't get my reply email or hadn't had time to get it. I'm glad I did, because she hadn't received my email yet. They did use my potato starch and we had a WONDERFUL meal. The best meal I've ever had! And I loved the fact that I didn't have to worry that my spouse would get sick! They gave us extra fruit and veggies to replace the bread in the cheese fondue course. Then they replaced the ravioli with extra chicken in the meat course. For the desert course, we had plain marshmallow (instead of the Oreo-covered ones), strawberries, and bananas. They also placed an Anniversary card at our table with our names on it. Also, when I made the reservation they offered several celebration packages (for an extra fee, $10-55) such as roses, balloon bouquets, etc). The whole evening was extremely special!

Here is the email I got today, the day after we went:

Thank you so much for coming to see us Saturday night! It was very thoughtful of you to bring the potato starch, truly awesome! I'm very glad you and your hubby enjoyed yourselves and that the Caribbean cheese turned out to be great. I think we're actually going to make one today for ourselves with the potato starch and see if we can tell a difference. It's been suggested that we just go ahead and substitute it for the flour anyway with the amount of gluten allergies our restaurant has been seeing.

Again, thank you for the starch and thank you for coming in last night. We can't wait to have you again!

And we can't wait to come again! Thank you Jenny & everyone else at Lexington Melting Pot!

[munkee41182]

Actually, this woman that use to work at the company both my fiance and i work at just left to go manage a Melting Pot in Burlington MA. She said that we should give 24 hours notice for gluten free meals. She brought up the "there is wheat flour in the cheese" etc....and I had said to her, "it's not just wheat, it'e barley, malt, rye, oats, etc" She said that she understood that, and other than the beer that they use in the cheese fondues...they don't use barley, malt, etc. Granted each MP may not be the same, but I at least feel safe to go to the one by us.

[amberleigh]

Our Melting Pot is REALLY good with food allergies. They have a huge laminated brochure type thing that they bring out that lists all the "no no's" for each food allergy and gluten/wheat is definitely on there. With that, we were able to select all 4 courses of the Big Night Out. I believe there are only 1-2 cheeses we can eat and 1 cooking fondue. I think the salads and chocolates are pretty easy though. With the dessert course, we always have them bring the fruit separate from everything else and then my husband just drizzles the chocolate over his "gluten food".

We've eaten there 3-4 times since I've been dx'd and no problems! It's one of our favorite places to go!