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Need a place to celebrate restaurant week? We might have fondue a place
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Albuquerque Restaurant Week returns next month, and it couldn鈥檛 come at a better time for The Melting Pot, a restaurant that specializes in fondue and relies on celebrations for a bulk of its business.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get our regular customers who come twice a year, maybe this will tempt them to come in a third time if we put something different on the menu,鈥� said Christine Zalesiak, owner of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Melting Pot location.
The ceremonial week will return to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for the first time since the pandemic from Friday, April 4, through April 11. Since then, the city鈥檚 culinary scene has seen multiple chefs become James Beard finalists and was ranked in 2023 by Eater as one of the top food cities in the world 鈥� one of only two U.S. cities to make that list.
The special for diners who pick Melting Pot to celebrate the week is a $44 per person three-course meal featuring a cheese fondue, an entree and a chocolate fondue.
Among the options for cheese fondue are Hatch Green Chile Cheddar, a Herb Quartet or Wisconsin Cheddar.
Entree features consist of the Lemon-Garlic Marinated Pork Tenderloin and Shrimp accompanied by a chicken breast, salmon and pasta; or for an additional $5.95 a Meat Lover鈥檚 option that features Shrimp Teriyaki Sirloin, Garlic Pepper Sirloin and Memphis-Rubbed Pork is avalible.
Chocolate fondue selections include Flaming Turtle which features milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans; or the Flaming Strawberry White Chocolate with white chocolate swirled with strawberry puree and topped with a fresh strawberry. Both are flamb茅ed table side.
For more traditional chocolate connoisseurs, the options of milk, dark or white chocolates are available.
鈥淥ur prices are where they鈥檙e at, because of this economy and the way things are,鈥� said Andre Leger, general manager. 鈥淲e understand people want to come out and have a good time, but it鈥檚 hard at times. So this is kind of the best opportunity, I think, for people to try it out for the first time.鈥�
The menu is similar to the $60, four-course offering the Melting Pot featured at the last local Restaurant Week in 2019, cutting just the salad 鈥� and with it $16鈥� from the offerings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the exact same, but we are trying to come up with something new so we can entice our long-time guest to come back for something different at a great price,鈥� Zalesiak said.
Zalesiak added that the mid-April week is usually a slow time for the restaurant, coming on the heels of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Public Schools鈥� and University of New Mexico鈥檚 spring breaks and a month ahead of graduations, adding 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 abuse discounting, it works.鈥�
There are 96 Melting Pot locations across the country, and one in Canada.
The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 location, the only one in the state, opened in Old Town in 2002 and moved to Uptown in 2011.
鈥淭he point of difference, for The Melting Pot, is the perfect night out, so our goal is to ensure that our guests have an amazing evening,鈥� Zalesiak said.
Need a place to celebrate restaurant week? We might have fondue a place
