Fondue Stube in Chicago, IL
Last night I lost my fondue virginity. It took me 20 years, but I finally got to see what the fuss was all about! I had a Groupon with my friend L but also went with my friend K, to Fondue Stube http://www.fonduestube.com/ in Chicago. All my knowledge of fondue included dipping things into a vat of hot cheese and sharing it with a lot of people. It sounded very hippie, I was almost expecting that we would sit on the floor on pillows or something. Boy was I wrong! The menu all had a music theme, which I loved. My friends and I decided to just get 3 of the same thing: the Sinfonia Eroica, which was a 3 course meal, starting with apples and bread with swiss cheese, then sirloin with vegetables and sauces to be dipped in soybean oil, and the final course fresh, seasonal fruit to be dipped in a fudge sauce. We also got a salad and garlic bread. Although it didn’t sound like it would be enough food, we were definitely stuffed afterwards!
The bread and apple course with the swiss cheese fondue was a great way to start the meal, especially because of how well the flavors blended together. The apples were a little tart which was perfect with the swiss cheese. Of course the bread tasted amazing with it as well. I would have never thought to put apples and swiss cheese together, but something about it just works.
Next we moved onto the main course, which was unlimited vegetables and sirloin beef to dip in soybean oil. It was fun to dip and wait for our food to be done, because it felt like we were really involved in the food process. What I loved was the selection of sauces that came with our platter of vegetables. There was a raspberry, a Bearnaise, a Curry, and a Steak sauce. So here we are with our veggies: potato, carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli, and then we have all these sauces that we can mix and match, so to speak, with our various veggies and steak. We found that the raspberry and steak went very well together, in an unexpected and refreshing sort of way. I really enjoyed the curry one myself, but all of the choices were delicious.
After the main course, we get to dessert, which is what I was looking forward to the most. Our seasonal fresh fruit was an interesting assortment: strawberries, blackberries, watermelon, banana, pineapple, oranges, and a melon. Then there was some pound cake and marshmallows with graham crackers as well, with this giant pot of hot, fondue chocolate. Our waiter set it on fire first, so that we could make s’mores. I was too busy taking a picture to try that though. But it was quite good, though some of the fruit wasn’t meant to be with chocolate, like the oranges and the melons. But the rest tasted amazing, like I always imagined chocolate fondue with fruit would!
Overall, it was really interesting to be able to try something so new and different. I can’t say I’m a fondue lover for life now or anything, but I would like to be able to try some of the other choices that they had available, like seafood and different cheeses. I’m glad my friends and I were able to try something none of us was really familiar with. If you want something new, I recommend it. Though fondue is something that’s more fun with lots of people, so bring a group!
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