Well Jon turned 40 on Friday. He couldn't decide what he wanted to for his birthday until Friday late afternoon

That's when he decided that The Melting Pot sounded good

DH & I have been a few times, but the kids have never been there so we thought it would be fun.
At 5 pm, I called and made a reservation for the 4 of us at 7:45. While on the phone they asked if we were celebrating anything (who do they think they are, Disney?

) I quietly told them about DH's birthday.
We were seated as soon as we arrived, and DH was told Happy Birthday by one of the girls at the hostess stand. DH was given a birthday card signed by everyone working that night which I thought was very nice.
We started with a couple of drinks, Dirty martini for DH & a Tipsy Turtle for me

, the kids had soda & lemonade.
For dinner DH and I had the "Big Night Out" and the kids had the Signature Selection Entree for 2.
We all started with cheese fondue: Kids had Fiesta Cheese Fondue, which was similar to queso. DH & I had the Quattro Formaggio cheese fondue

YUM! This was soooooo good! We ate every last bite! The kids liked theirs as well, but there was a little too much jalepeno added for DS's taste but DD loved it
The 2nd course was salad. Normally you share the salad, but our waitress suggested that DH & I get different salads so we can try both and for the kids she did the same. DH had the Caprese Salad, I had the California Salad (mixed baby greens, Roma tomatos, walnuts, gorgonzola, raspberry black walnut vinagrete dressing). I think we each shared a bite with the other, but that was it. They were too good to share

DD got the Spinach Mushroom Salad, minus the mushrooms

and our waitress recommended a fruit plate (that is not on the menu) for DS. He loved it! Fresh pineapple chunks, strawberries & bananas
3rd course was the entrees. DH & I had the Fondue Fusion:
Lobster Tail
Filet Mignon Florentine
Limoncello Balsamic Sirloin
Shrimp Diablo
Sun-dried Tomato Chicken
Orange Fennel Pork Tenderloin
Porcini and Portobello Sacchetti
Fresh Vegetables
$87 per couple
The kids had Signature Selection $58
Filet mignon, white shrimp,
teriyaki-marinated sirloin,
breast of chicken and salmon filet.
Neither of them likes salmon, so we asked if we could substitute something for that and DS chimes in "maybe with more filet?" Our waitress said, sure we'll give you more filet instead of salmon. Let me say, DS was in heaven
We chose 2 different cooking styles/flavors, the Mojo (Carribean flavors with garlic & citrus) and a traditional Coq au Vin.
All of it was really good, but the lobster was to die for

. DS loved "cooking" his own steak

DD thought the teriyaki sirloin was fantastic and she doesn't even like teriyaki. Did I mention the lobster was really good?

We were so stuffed, but that did not stop us from our final course
Final course, milk chocolate Tiramisu fondue & a special order dark chocolate fondue with a shot of Chambord



What can I say, it doesn't get any better than dark chocolate with Chambord

Jon & I both got coffee to go with our dessert and when they brought the dipping items out, one slice of cheesecake had a candle in it

Our items to dip included: pound cake cubes, cheesecake, brownie, rice krispie treats, graham cracker coated marshmallows, chocoalte covered marshmallows (yeah, that seemed weird since we were about to dip it in chocolate), strawberries, bananas, & I don't remember what else. It couldn't have been any better, except it was for DS when our waitress told him if he needed more of anything she'd bring it out for him. He was one happy happy boy when another plate of marshmallows, brownies & rice krispie treats came out
We only took one picture and it was at the end of the meal
It was a wonderful night out, and DH was very happy

Apparently 40 is such a big birthday it takes all weekend to celebrate

so his parents came over Saturday for a cookout. We grilled Italian sausages and burgers, had pasta salad, potato salad & chips. Then we had birthday cake, Boston Cream Pie (cake).
It was a great weekend filled with wonderful food & booze
