The Melting Pot

[StrongerToday]

so this is a "twofer" posting... a comment and a question.

We went to The Melting Pot for Mother's DAy, and it was FAB!! I had emailed ahead and was assured they would take good care of me, and they sure did. Everything was discussed ahead of time, changes made for me (like sub a different meat for a teryaki marinated meat) and the food was great. It's expensive, and it's leisurely (3 hours!) but I loved it.

Except for a waiter who has celiac. It was very nice of him to come and talk to me, but frankly his attitude was not friendly. He kept trying to explain to me that I couldn't have chocolate fondue since they use chocolate processed with alkali and that it's not gluten free. He even went so far as to tell me they would not serve it to me since it wouldn't be safe for me to eat. While I appreciate his determination and helpfulness to come talk to me, he really had a bad attitude about it. We've all had to do battle about telling people what we can and can't eat, but at least we're nice about it - aren't we :-) When I explained I've never reacted to chocolate processed w/ alkali he said I wasn't getting proper care from my doctor!

So my question is - what do you know about chocolate alkali? Is it safe? When I first went gluten free and researched it some old information said ketchup, vanilla, some alcohol wasn't safe... is this the same for chocolate alkali? That perhaps it was thought not to be safe - but it is?

We ended up going w/ Bananas Foster, made from white chocolate, and it was so yummy this is hardly a complaint, but my whole dining party is so curious now! Please share what you know, and if you want a fabulous (expensive) leisurely dinner, check out the Melting Pot!

[ginafur77]

I have no idea about the alkali but I have eaten at a Melting Pot in St Louis and I had the chocolate. I didn't have any reactions so you got me.

That's no fun with the waiter talking to you like that though!

[JNBunnie1]

I have no idea about the alkali but I have eaten at a Melting Pot in St Louis and I had the chocolate. I didn't have any reactions so you got me.

That's no fun with the waiter talking to you like that though!

The cocoa powder in Pamela's chocolate foods and mixes is processed with alkali. I promise, we'd have heard about it if Pamela's was making people sick. Your Celiac waiter needs some education.