c>log

In the 1970s possibly the most popular gift for newlyweds was the brightly colored fondue pot. This little cooking device was the inspiration for many wine and polyester dinner parties in the 1970s and its popularity in the American home can be traced back to dinner parties in the 1950s and 1960s. As fads go, the fondue fad fades around 1980 when our ties got skinny and our wallets gained a gold card. Happy hour ruled the 1980s and we ate whatever they put out for us. We dared not host dinner parties where we required our guests to cook their own meals.

If it's old, then now it's new. If it came around, then it went around. As we begin to wax nostalgic over decades past – namely the 1960s and 1970s – the fabulous fondue pot is melting its way back in our lives near the end of this century's first decade. Usually only seen in Switzerland and various other places in Europe, the fondue restaurant is also the latest fad for dining out. You pay to cook your own meal at a restaurant – a novel idea don't you think?

Most famously a Swiss communal dish, fondue is a word derived from the French word fondre which means to melt, or, in the past tense fondu. Cheese is the main ingredient for making fondue although a variety of other items may be used in creating fondue. The only requirements are a caquelon (fondue pot), some oil to heat, some food ingredients and some guests who don't mind cooking their own meals or the occasional splatter of hot oil during the cooking process. A bubbling welcome back to the fondue pot and the fondue party! Fire one up today!

Dirque du Soleil

He's from the past, so he knows the future...

dirque@erichatheway.com