Location: Livermore, CA
Website: http://www.simplyfonduelivermore.com
Cuisine type: Fondue, contemporary
Atmosphere: private small tables, dim lighting
Meal: dinner
Overall score: 8.75
Nina
The Livermore valley area is the wine underdog to Napa and Sonoma, even though they do produce some nice varietals. A way in which they encourage consumption and appreciation for local wines is through promotional agreements with local restaurants. Such a restaurant is Simply Fondue in Livermore, which waives corkage fee for Livermore Valley wines - and that’s not only a good deal, but also an incentive to try out the restaurant. I picked a Petit Syrah from Concannon winery and we went to this restaurant on a Monday evening so we could also take advantage of their March Madness offer - you can draw a discount ticket at the end of your meal which can be work 10%, 20% or 40% off your entire bill.
The restaurant was very much reminiscent of The Melting Pot, a national chain which we’ve tried out a couple of times in Indianapolis. The lighting was dim (almost too dim, which prevented me from really documenting this meal like I usually do without annoying other with camera flashes) and the seating was both cozy and romantic. There were two burners for each table of four, which allowed you to select two methods of cooking for the entree part of the meal.
As we’ve always done at fondue restaurants, we ordered the multi-course meal. In this case, since we didn’t go for the all you can eat version, we had to choose whether we wanted cheese fondue or chocolate fondue as our third course (salad and entree were included by default). I made my decision not based on which one I’d rather have (chocolate, of course), but rather which one would be harder to make as successfully at home (cheese, since I make chocolate stuff all the time).
My first course was a simply spinach and strawberry salad with almonds, tossed in a sweet cider vinaigrette. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful, though there was perhaps a little too much dressing for my taste, next time I think I’ll ask to have the dressing on the side.
The second course was a traditional “Swiss Chalet” cheese fondue, and this is where the restaurant started earning its name. The base for this dish was a blend of kirshwasser, garlic and spices (mostly nutmeg) with a generous amount of Chablis wine. To that, the server then added a bowl of freshly grated gruyere and emmental cheese, which melted very smoothly and had a mild flavor, yet enough bite to impart a rich flavor. We had a good amount of things to dip in this, like raw veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower), apple slices and assorted bread pieces.
It was, however, the entree course, when we enjoyed the broadest variety of flavors and were able to really appreciate the pairing of our dry and fragrant wine with the food. In taking advantage of the two burners on our table, we ordered both a skillet and a sangria broth. These came with the usual array of sauces to complement the entree - curry yogurt sauce, spicy honey mustard, horseradish mayonnaise, ginger soy glaze, sweet and sour sauce and peanut sesame dip. We entertained ourselves by trying to guess what each sauce was before the server came over with our meats, and our guesses turned out to be extremely accurate - I guess our practice in appreciating and describing food is worth something after all. The meat selection was quite varied, but to our slight disappointment we realized that the sauce selection had nothing to do with our actual order, it seems like it’s a standard selection that they would serve and it’s entirely up to us if and how we match it with the food. At previous fondue restaurants the choice was more deliberate, and there were suggested pairings of food to sauce. To summarize, we got beef tenderloin, roasted garlic chicken, sea scallops, blackened salmon, ahi sesame tuna and herb crusted pork tenderloin. The last three of these were probably my favorites, because they were rich in flavor and juicy when cooked right. The beef tenderloin was good but rather plain and small, the roasted garlic chicken was tasty but got dry very quickly if you didn’t pay close attention when cooking it, and the sea scallops were disappointingly small - more at the level of bay scallops rather than the larger, juicier variety.
At the end of the meal, we picked out the 10% discount form a hat (not surprising, I am sure there was a much higher chance of picking this than the other discount opportunities), but it’s better than nothing and brings some excitement and playfulness into the payment process. Service was great from beginning to end, the food was delicious and the opportunity to drink wine at a reasonable price was certainly a welcome bonus for a casual weeknight dinner.
The restaurant was very much reminiscent of The Melting Pot, a national chain which we’ve tried out a couple of times in Indianapolis. The lighting was dim (almost too dim, which prevented me from really documenting this meal like I usually do without annoying other with camera flashes) and the seating was both cozy and romantic. There were two burners for each table of four, which allowed you to select two methods of cooking for the entree part of the meal.
As we’ve always done at fondue restaurants, we ordered the multi-course meal. In this case, since we didn’t go for the all you can eat version, we had to choose whether we wanted cheese fondue or chocolate fondue as our third course (salad and entree were included by default). I made my decision not based on which one I’d rather have (chocolate, of course), but rather which one would be harder to make as successfully at home (cheese, since I make chocolate stuff all the time).
My first course was a simply spinach and strawberry salad with almonds, tossed in a sweet cider vinaigrette. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful, though there was perhaps a little too much dressing for my taste, next time I think I’ll ask to have the dressing on the side.
The second course was a traditional “Swiss Chalet” cheese fondue, and this is where the restaurant started earning its name. The base for this dish was a blend of kirshwasser, garlic and spices (mostly nutmeg) with a generous amount of Chablis wine. To that, the server then added a bowl of freshly grated gruyere and emmental cheese, which melted very smoothly and had a mild flavor, yet enough bite to impart a rich flavor. We had a good amount of things to dip in this, like raw veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower), apple slices and assorted bread pieces.
It was, however, the entree course, when we enjoyed the broadest variety of flavors and were able to really appreciate the pairing of our dry and fragrant wine with the food. In taking advantage of the two burners on our table, we ordered both a skillet and a sangria broth. These came with the usual array of sauces to complement the entree - curry yogurt sauce, spicy honey mustard, horseradish mayonnaise, ginger soy glaze, sweet and sour sauce and peanut sesame dip. We entertained ourselves by trying to guess what each sauce was before the server came over with our meats, and our guesses turned out to be extremely accurate - I guess our practice in appreciating and describing food is worth something after all. The meat selection was quite varied, but to our slight disappointment we realized that the sauce selection had nothing to do with our actual order, it seems like it’s a standard selection that they would serve and it’s entirely up to us if and how we match it with the food. At previous fondue restaurants the choice was more deliberate, and there were suggested pairings of food to sauce. To summarize, we got beef tenderloin, roasted garlic chicken, sea scallops, blackened salmon, ahi sesame tuna and herb crusted pork tenderloin. The last three of these were probably my favorites, because they were rich in flavor and juicy when cooked right. The beef tenderloin was good but rather plain and small, the roasted garlic chicken was tasty but got dry very quickly if you didn’t pay close attention when cooking it, and the sea scallops were disappointingly small - more at the level of bay scallops rather than the larger, juicier variety.
At the end of the meal, we picked out the 10% discount form a hat (not surprising, I am sure there was a much higher chance of picking this than the other discount opportunities), but it’s better than nothing and brings some excitement and playfulness into the payment process. Service was great from beginning to end, the food was delicious and the opportunity to drink wine at a reasonable price was certainly a welcome bonus for a casual weeknight dinner.
Food 9
Drinks 10
Atmosphere 9
Service 10
Value 7
Drinks 10
Atmosphere 9
Service 10
Value 7
Ben
Strongly resembles the chain of Melting Pot restaurants, a style which I am now taking to define Fondue restaurants. Dimly lit, professional wait staff, good sized menu, choice of a la carte fondues or combinations of cheese / broth / dessert fondues. We liked that they have no corkage fees for Livermore valley wines, so we were able to really enjoy ourselves over a bottle of wine from the store at a fraction of the cost. We went with the "fondue Sampler" including a choice of salad (I had a tasty gorgonzola greens salad) 6 entrees (beef tenderloin, garlic chicken, scallops, blackened salmon, ahi tuna and herb crusted pork tenderloin) and the choice of cheese or dessert fondue (we chose cheese, a classic gruyere). The cheese fondue was my favorite, with a strong white wine flavor and garlicy gruyere/emmentaler cheese. The entrees were all tasty in our sangria broth, though I found the meat portions to be quite small. I have to say I rate the food high because I simply love the style of fondue, but I would say it is a little better than the Melting Pots we've been to in the past. The atmosphere is cozy and provides a decent amount of privacy via table spacing and compartmental rooms. The wine selection seemed pretty large, though we were happy to enjoy what we brought. Overall it is a good fondue place, and can be more affordable if you bring a Livermore valley wine and can take advantage of rotating specials they have on their website.
Food 9
Drinks 9
Atmosphere 8
Service 9
Value 7
Drinks 9
Atmosphere 8
Service 9
Value 7
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