h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Fondue was actually very popular in the U.S. back in the '70's. Fondue sets in groovy '70's colors like avocado and burnt orange are still a common sight at garage sales. There was (and still may be)a fondue restaurant in Berkeley, CA (Fondue Fred's). It also enjoyed a brief comeback about 4 or 5 years ago, as part of a general wave of '70's nostalgia. I've seen prepackaged fondue from Switzerland in many groceries.

There are also quite a few shabu shabu restaurants around.

Here in the Chicagoland area we have a fondue restaurant called the Melting Pot that is quite popular.

Just about everyone I know has a fondue set collecting dust somewhere in their house.

I ate at the fondue joint in Berkely many years ago. It was not up to the standards I had become accustomed to. My favorite fondue joint was in Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco and it was calle the Wine Cellar. I would fly up from LA ride the bus from the airport to the bus terminal on Market Street, catch a cable car to the Wharf and enjoy a cheese fondue and a beef fondue and finish it off with mousse au chocolat. Add a liter of wine and the rest of the evening would be a pleasant buzz despite the normally cold and windy weather of the bay area. There is a fondue joint on Polk Street, I think. Next time I am there, I will give it a try.

Beef fondue?

I actually had a fondue party the other night. The fondue pots in question were from the 70s. One was a groovy avocado green and the other was a far-out harvest yellow. The green held (Ghiradelli) chocolate fondue, which was eaten with fresh strawberries, bosc pears, gala apples, and French bread, and other contained cheese fondue. We screwed up the cheese fondue by adding far too much kirsch. It had a smell and taste reminiscent of jet fuel.

The fondue faux-pas tradition we heard about was if a man lost his bread in the goo he had to buy everyone a drink. If a woman lost hers, she gave everyone a kiss.