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The B Team Podcast
Talking all things Business, Bentonville, and Bourbon. Hosted by Josh Saffran, Matt Marrs, Rob Nelson, and Jim Corbett. New episodes every Thursday!
The B Team Podcast
Ep. 96 - Fondue, Family, and a Bold Leap
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A sparkling square, a family caravan, and a risky idea that turned into a community magnet. We sit down with Chad, a former hospital executive who moved from California to Northwest Arkansas and opened a locally owned Melting Pot in Rogers. What started as a sarcastic date-night comment became a full-on leap into hospitality: with a design built for connection and a menu that makes you put the phone down and pick up a fondue fork.
We explore why Northwest Arkansas checked every box for raising kids and building a business, then get practical about the experience that keeps the room buzzing: four thoughtful courses, servers crafting cheese table side, induction cooking that’s safe and precise, and a flexible menu from curated classics to vegan options. If you’ve ever worried about doneness, QR timers take the guesswork out; if you’ve got allergies, separate pots and certified protocols make it easy to relax. Pricing stays approachable, from a power lunch near twenty dollars to a full four-course around sixty per person, so families, date nights, and corporate groups can all find their lane.
Chad’s team designed the space to fit real life: Lover’s Lane booths for proposals and anniversaries, a floor-to-ceiling private room for 10–18 guests, high-top café seating, and a full four-course menu at the bar for walk-ins. Early demand spiked so fast they upgraded the dish setup overnight. Then they got creative locally: a Melting Pot Express shuttle to the Walmart AMP during concert season, patio socials with roaming cheese and chocolate stations, and kid-forward programming like Grinch lunches during the Holidays, princess visits, and storybook weekends. It’s a national brand with a local heartbeat: owned, staffed, and shaped by people who live 18 minutes away.
If you’re ready for dinner that feels like an experience, where conversation leads and the table does the cooking, this one’s for you. Hit play, then grab a reservation.
Subscribe for more Bentonville, bourbon, and business stories, and leave a review with your vote: cheese first or chocolate first?
Intros And Missing Co‑Host Banter
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I am your host, Josh Saffron, with my co-host, Matt Mars, and our permanent guest, Rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bettonville, bourbon, and business. The B Team Podcast. Be here. Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Saffron, with our permanent guest, Robbie. Bobby. And our permanent alternate? Jim. Permanent alternate. That's exactly what that's what I've been consistently the last several times. But they never permanent alternate. They always call it the permanent guest. I'm like, he's a permanent alternate. We already have a permanent guest. We have a permanent alternate. But that's right. But Matt is probably going to be banned. I mean, he's just been he's ghosted us. This is two in a row now.
SPEAKER_01He's busy. He's in Florida.
SPEAKER_02He could have called in virtually, right? We could we have technologies. This is a big time podcast studio. A different state feels like a good excuse. I like keeping the peace.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you do. I mean, it does help that Josh schedules it around his schedule, and then everyone else has to be.
Meet Chad: From Healthcare To Hospitality
SPEAKER_02You know what we're gonna have to do for this episode? We're gonna have to screenshot in like the text thread that says, Are you guys available to stay in in? And then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, the schedule's up. Well, we're every Thursday for all things Bentonville business in bourbon, and there is a new restaurant that has opened up in the middle of the Pinnacle Promenade area, melting pot. And Chad the owner is gracious with his presence. He's came down to talk to us today from right upstairs. You just walked out. You literally came downstairs.
SPEAKER_00Long trip.
SPEAKER_02Big journey.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Sled dogs, lots of traffic.
SPEAKER_02Yes, lots of traffic. So, Chad, so welcome. Thank you. We did talk a little bit beforehand. This is you're not a uh a food business owner by trade. Like this is a whole new ballgame for you, correct?
SPEAKER_00That is uh 100% correct. Okay.
SPEAKER_02So how do you go from day job into saying I want to open up a melting pot fondue place in the middle of Rogers, Arkansas?
Falling For Northwest Arkansas
SPEAKER_00So kind of a long story. My background is actually in healthcare. So I started out in nursing, ran hospitals for a very long time, and uh about we're not originally from Northwest Arkansas, so we're originally from the West Coast in California. Uh so we um my wife and I started having a conversation about seven years ago about leaving California for a variety of reasons. And so we were looking for, you know, where do we want to land and spend the rest of our lives and raise more children? We now have four children. And uh we were actually looking at Dallas. We had a broker, we were looking at the properties, and some some of our very closest friends up and moved to Centerton. And not not just you know, they were, you know, it was the two of them and they had five kids. So not just them, but also three sets of siblings, their families, their children, parents, the whole clan. And we thought that was wild. And so uh we were gonna go to Dallas look at properties, and I said, well, let's swing through, let's swing through uh Centerton, visit them. This place called Northwest Arkansas, whatever that is. But you knew nothing about it other than that. No, uh my in-laws are in Oklahoma. I thought Arkansas next to Oklahoma, I figured it was the same thing. Sure. Um flat, not much to look at, who knew? So we flew in to uh the Walmart airport called XNA and uh went to Centerton. We actually we landed the Friday before the in this is December, like six, seven years, seven years ago, and six years ago. We landed the Friday before the Benville Christmas parade. Which is tomorrow. Which is tomorrow. We'll be in the parade. Sure. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. So we land on Friday late that night, and we get up and we they give us kind of the tour in Northwest, Arkansas, and we end at the the Benville.
SPEAKER_02Who's giving you the tour? Your friends from Sanders. Okay, okay. I don't know if Bobby and Pitt New people roll roll at the red carpet, but uh he's not a good one.
SPEAKER_00I didn't see Yeah, maybe. Yeah. So but anyways, you know, we that Saturday we land now we land Saturday night at Benville Square, and it's I mean, you know, it's beautiful. It's lit up. I'm like, are they filming a movie here tonight or what's what's going on? And I'm from, you know, East Bay in California, just out outside of San Francisco, and there isn't that there isn't that level happening there. And so we by the end of the day Sunday, we just completely fallen in love with Northwest Arkansas. What did you love? It is it was very much like a Hallmark movie compared to what you know, compared to what we were coming from, traffic, crime, uh, and then everything else that kind of falls on the list after that. And so, you know, the people were nice. Um, I could I could drive from I think all in one weekend I drove from Centerton to Fayetteville and back. Uh, did not experience road rage one time. No one tried to murder me in the freeway. Well, this was before they had the traffic. It was. It was, in all fairness, this this was a few years ago. Um, but no, the people were nice, uh entirely different. Um just communal attitude, I would say. Um, and just thoughtfulness about each other. Um, I mean, we we drove by park, this is in December, but we drove by parks or like kids playing at parks. Um it was just and we were my wife and I were were in that, we were at that point where we were planning another round of children, and by the end of the weekend, we said, this is where we need to raise our family. No, that's awesome. The rest of my family.
SPEAKER_02I mean, we we moved here from New York about the same time, and it was the same thing, different coast. It was like, I remember we were at the at a park and I laughed about the story. Somebody came up to me, it was just out of blue, and I'm like holding my wallet. Like, because I was like, nobody comes up to you in New York and comes like I literally was like, Like, what does this guy want? Welcome to the neighborhood, what can I do? I was like, What? Like, like there was no agenda other than welcoming, right? And it took me a while to kind of slow down that that pace of my brain to a point where this is just a good place to be.
SPEAKER_00So, long story short, for that weekend, uh called a broker in Dallas, said, sorry, but not sorry. We're uh not gonna be heading down there. Um, signed with a realtor up here. Uh within about I don't know, about six months, we found our property, bought some property out kind of out near Beaver Lake. Nice. Went from lived in a very nice community in California. It's called Discovery Bay, very much like Pinnacle, basically.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure I was a little pricey over there here.
SPEAKER_00Um I was shocked. This of course was like uh you know, almost six years ago now. I was shocked to be able to find a property on many, many, many acres uh for about a quarter of what we had.
SPEAKER_02Well, Northern California is the one of the most expensive places in the country, if not the most expensive, that in New York, right? And so when people move here, and I love it here people, oh, it got really expensive. Well, in the last couple of years, it got much more expensive. Yeah, it has but in comparison to Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay, or New York City, you're you're like chuckling, like it's not that expensive. Paying for the buck, there's no comparison.
SPEAKER_00Yes. No.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
The Move: Family, Property, And Community
SPEAKER_00So uh bought our property, started uh spent about a year um on the house and the property and all that sort of thing. In the meantime, started having conversations with the rest of our family that's starting and brought them out for a few visits. So also from California? Also from California. So there were about 17 of us in total, plus children that actually moved. Oh wow. Wow. Congrats. Um and we were at a certain point, this is uh a couple of years ago now, about three years ago, we were our family was featured in a documentary called Leaving California.
SPEAKER_02What channel, what channel was it on?
SPEAKER_00Uh I'll have to get that from my wife. Okay. It was through a Southern California um uh filmmaker. Okay. Um so that was interesting. It feels like an HD TV show. Yeah. Similar. Um But yeah, a lot the whole clan moved out here. It was like Beverly Hill Billy's in reverse. And uh we ended up buying the property next door for my brother and sister-in-law. Um, they came out here. My sister-in-law ended up, she was a deputy prosecutor for Bennett County, and now she works for Walmart. That's where all attorneys go to work to retire. Yeah. Um built a house for my mother-in-law on our property. So we literally have, you know, my two and four-year-old now, they're with an eye shot of their cousins and their grandmother's in the middle. Sounds like what you did with your mom. I mean, well, on a much smaller basis. I'll text my brother-in-law and say, hey, it's it's time to go do something. Let's send the kids south, you know. And then they can they just walk down to grandma's house. That's so cool. That's awesome. That's really the melting pot. Yes. So uh, you know, we bought this property and we're kind of the whole family, we're in the kind of the midst of conversations with the whole family about leaving and you know, starting life in again in Northwest Arkansas. And my wife has always been a business owner, she's always been an entrepreneur, she doesn't know any different. Her family was the same deal. They, you know, her mother owned a commercial construction company. Uh, my wife still owns a few businesses in California. So she didn't, and I've never owned my own business. I mean, I've made a career out of spending other people's money. It's much more fun. Feels less risky, you know. Um and so literally, as soon as we signed on our property and we were committed to moving, she said, okay, what kind of business do you want to open? I said slow down. I said, I have no interest in opening business. I said, I've I've run hospitals for long enough. I want to actually kind of slow down, enjoy these children that we're gonna make, and I don't want to work 150 hours a week anymore. She said, Great. We're gonna open a restaurant. So, what kind of business do you want to open? And we were literally having dinner at melting pot in Sacramento. That was like our weekly date night. Um, it's just where our paths crossed in the middle of every week. And so I very sarcastically said, We should open a melting pot.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I bet you wish you didn't say that now.
SPEAKER_00She said, That is a ridiculous idea. I got up, went to the bathroom, she proceeds to look up melting pot's business development contact information, sends them an email, and the next day I start getting phone calls, emails, and text messages. Wow. And here we are.
SPEAKER_02And they said, Bettonville who, where, what? Like, well, no clue.
SPEAKER_00I have the first conversation with their business development guy, this name's Colin, and he says, I can't believe you're moving to Northwest Arkansas. That's been on our map. Bettonville actually has been on our map for like two years now.
SPEAKER_02That's great. Because most people, when they come in and they're trying to bring a new business to the area, they don't know anything about the area. Most people are like, Where?
SPEAKER_00Why would you put a and then they fly and they go, Oh, I get it. Well, someone had put a bug in their ear a couple couple years before that, and they start, they do a lot of market research. So they start pulling demographic information, they start pulling all sorts of different socioeconomic data, and they're like, What is going on in this little part of the Midwest? So it made sense to them. And typically melting pot's been around, in fact, 2025 is the fifth fiftieth year of melting pot. It it is it's America's fondue brand.
SPEAKER_01Now, have you either of you ever been to the melting pot? So I'm from central Florida and we had a melting out there. And yes, we would go there. That's where it started. I think I was uh I was in a fondue place.
SPEAKER_02I wouldn't be surprised at the melting pot, but this was back in New York days. So I I don't remember if it was one in New York City, there's one in Syracuse.
Why The Melting Pot And Why Here
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, so that wouldn't be neither of those. No, yeah. Well, anyways, it's um it's uh uh been around for a very long time. And it's been a um uh it's typically in big markets Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, New York. Um but they'd identify Northwest Arkansas now, probably half dozen years ago. Um and it has been a staple in our family for years and years. So what do you love most about melting pot? You know as a consumer. As a consumer, so first of all, my wife and I are foodies. We love going out to eat. We love the experience of going out to eat. Um it's it once upon a time it was nothing for us, nothing for us to go out three plus times a week. Um, both for the food and just for the experience of going out. The thing that I think we enjoy most about melting pot, it's an entirely different type of food and dining experience. It's very interactive. Um and it's it's uh I don't know if this was the original design intent or not, but if you walk around if you go into the and if you go into our restaurant tonight, um for dinner tonight, we'll probably do we'll serve a couple hundred guests. About 7 30 or so will be probably the busiest time of the restaurant. There won't be an empty table in there. You walk around that restaurant, um, inside we have 62 tables inside, and then another uh 26 tables outside. You walk around the inside of that restaurant, you'll be hard pressed to find folks that are sitting there on their phone. Interesting. Now, if they brought in small children, there's a chance they got a phone propped up. But you know, but because they're cooking their own food, it's so you go to you know that that two-top or that couple or the group of four, you know, friends that are there for dinner or whatever the case may be. It's the process itself, the experience itself is very interactive, and it doesn't really leave a lot of space for what you would experience going to most any other type of uh restaurant um brand or experience where um it's very much hand fed. And so there's a lot more there's a lot more opportunity for downtime and things like that. This experience, you're you are you're interacting with each other almost the entire time.
SPEAKER_02So for those that are not familiar, so explain the experience from start to finish. Because it's not like you walk in, you order your appetizer, it shows up, you order your dinner, it shows up, you order dessert and coffee, pay your check, and you go home.
What Makes Fondue Different
SPEAKER_00This is not that. So the brand, the the menu concept includes four different courses. You can mix and match those, or you can do all four courses. Um the the classic approach is to do all four. So the first course is what would, if you're comparing this to like um, let's say you're going to go to go to dinner, Ruth Chris, you go to Ruth Chris, you order your appetizer, right? And you order a salad, and you order an entree, and you order order a dessert. Our this melting pot concept or menu is really no different. Still four courses, but it's all fondue style. Minus a salad. I would not want to do a fondue style. I don't even know what that would look like, but um this is your this is the fondue pot. Okay, right. So um the first course is a cheese cheese fondue course. That is in in essence, that's your appetizer course. It's one of my favorite courses. It's my favorite course. Besides dessert. If no. Well, no, I would say the cheese is mine. So you you choose one of our different uh cheeses, uh or more. You can do it depends, right? You can do an alpine, you can do a Wisconsin cheddar, you can do a fiesta. We've got a half dozen different cheeses you can choose from. If it's a two-top, usually they're just gonna choose one cheese and share that. If you've got four people, you might do two different cheeses, and that way you can mix and match. Um but what comes with that cheese is um a whole assortment of breads and fruits and vegetables that you can basically use your fondue for. You stab that, dip it in there, and and eat away. Um and everyone's sharing from the same pot. Um, it really kind of it almost sets the stage for provokes conversation, right? And then the second stage, just like at any other, you know, polished restaurant where you would do a four-course, is a salad. You can choose from any one of our five different salads. And then the the main course is the entree course. And then for the entree course, you're gonna choose your cooking style. You're gonna go back to the pot and you're gonna cook your proteins or whatever whatever you're cooking, is gonna cook in the pot. And again, the you can do multiple cooking styles. You could do a cork bouillon in one pot, and you could do an oil a traditional oil in another pot. For those that are not fondue adventurous, you can also, we have a just a traditional grill. That grill will sit on the induction warmer and heat it. All on the table. It's all on the table. Okay. Yep. So if you sit at on any of our tables, the standard tables all have two induction warmers. So these pots sit on those, or the grill will sit on those, and that's where you're basically cooking your your food right in front of you.
SPEAKER_02So if somebody with allergies, I wanted to ask about your allergies for a second. So somebody that has allergies, like some. No. Thank God. Can't get out. Oh well. But uh fish allergies. Fish allergies. So could he he could he couldn't share the same pot, or would you have to do that?
SPEAKER_00In fact, our restaurant is um has uh multiple certifications around um allergy safety. So gluten, um, shellfish, uh, you name it. I mean, we had someone in a couple a week ago who was allergic to peaches. I didn't know you could be allergic to peaches, but that's an allergy. So uh our menu is designed to accommodate that. So if we're he has to have a separate pot for that? So if if let's say the four of us go into eat, you're deathly allergic to any kind of fish, whatever it is, right? Ideally, either everyone orders something that's not fish. Not fish.
SPEAKER_02Well we would no no, we would just do it just to piss him off.
SPEAKER_00We all have fish. Yes. But so he would you might do a separate pot over here. Okay. So he might, you know, we might do a a cork bouillon over there and a cocoa ban on this on this warmer over here. Um so that way the three, whether it's the three of us or maybe the two of you, maybe you don't want fish either. The two of you are gonna use the the cork bouillon, and then we want nothing but fish. So we'll cook our fish in the the uh cocoa bun on this side.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, you were gonna ask simple? Oh no, it was uh it was interesting induction, right? So that's like no flame. No flame. Can't burn yourself.
The Four‑Course Experience Explained
SPEAKER_00So if you picture correct. So if you picture a um like in a lot of kit a lot of kitchens that have elect electric stoves or cooktops, right? They've got that like black glass uh cooktop. Yeah. Um that's essentially what the our warmers are about 12 by 12. That's what they look like. Um they're electric, um, so they they uh work on a certain amperage. Those uh induction warmers are actually designed to work only with our pots and our grills. So there's essentially a the bottom of this grill um is designed to function as a magnet. And there's a let's say this is the male part of the magnet, there's a female part of the magnet on that warmer. So I can turn that thing on and turn it all the way up. Unless this pot is sitting on there, that warmer isn't gonna do anything. Induction's becoming more and more popular, yeah, even in residential. Now, this pot will get warm/slash hot. So just like if you go to you know a steakhouse and they have uh uh like a process where they their plates may go in the oven and let you know, hey, this plate's really hot when it comes out to the table. Um, our service team gives the same kite, the same type of information to the folks at the table, like, hey, don't touch the don't touch the pot. Um but that's essentially how the main course works. And then of course the dessert course, which is I think between cheese and chocolate is what melting pot is probably famous or infamous for. Um and then the same, most of the same things remain true for the chocolate course. You can choose from a half dozen different types of um chocolate concoctions. Um and similar to that cheese course, you we bring out a whole assortment of different dippers that again you're gonna use your fondue fork for. Everything from pound cake to rice crispy treats to caramel caramelized waffles, I didn't even know existed until I'll be honest, until about six months ago. I don't even know how they're made. I feel like they're made like in Santa's workshop somehow. Yes, I am magic. And you know, grapes and uh strawberries and different things like that.
SPEAKER_02And you don't like do you just say I will bring me out the dessert platter, or do you have to say I want the pound cake, I want the grapes, and it comes out?
SPEAKER_00You unless there are certain things that you don't want. I mean, our menu describes everything that comes out in that dipper assortment. So unless there are things that you don't want, you get that whole assortment. Um You if you run through if you run through the pound cake because you like pound cake, we'll bring out more pound cake. Extra pounds. Extra pound cake.
SPEAKER_02I like that. It feels to me, I went once to one of Oklahoma City. That's where I took my son. And it feels family friendly because the kids are able to cook their own food. Like to me, is it but is it cater to families, kids, or is it like would it be a you said date nights? Like so who's the audience?
SPEAKER_00Okay. So the traditional melting pot, which I'll call my parents' melting pot. Um, so going back 20, you know, 15, 20, 30 years, those uh they were almost from a like a design standpoint, they were almost designed like a 1950s track house. Remember? So like a thousand square feet, 36 rooms. But every room is two by two. But you got a dining room, you got six bedrooms. Um, and no matter what room you were in, you felt like you were the only person in the house. And though those older restaurants were the same way. Um the the traditional melting pot was very much designed for that romantic experience or that day-night. Um melting pot's gone through somewhat of an evolution over the last several years, and that's that is still part of the concept. That's still part of the offering or the intention, but that's not it. Um, so if you walk through our restaurant, you'll see the there's a design intention around how we put the space together. Um so the space, you know, the restaurant, I believe it's beautiful, but it it was really the thought behind it was we wanted to create a space where you could almost accomplish any kind of experience. So if you want to come in with your five kids, if you want to be brave and bring your wife and five children to dinner. Well, we have six. Or if you want to bring them all. Charlie doesn't make the cut, but yes. You can do that. Uh we can accommodate you. Your kids will have a great time, especially children that are between the ages of four and twelve. That's I mean, four on up is fantastic. But four to twelve is like a magical age because they get to do so much with their food that it's like my daughter is four and she I can't let her in there anymore. I'm like, you're eating all the profit once a month. That's it.
SPEAKER_02Too much pound shake.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's it's designed to be able to accommodate that. It's also designed to be able to accommodate, you know, the the four guys who want to go out uh and watch the game. They want to sit at high top, they want to watch Raisin Backs play tonight. Um it's designed for the corporate event. Next week we've got, I mean, we've we've got lots of big part, big groups coming in, you know, everything from hotel groups to corporate groups. Uh we've got a school district coming in, 75 people. Um so we can we can put an environment and an experience together for that type of uh need. Um, you know, two couples want to go out because they want to go here and then they're gonna go to the amp to a concert. Right. We can accommodate that. We can also accommodate the wedding proposal or the marriage proposal. If you want that super uber romantic experience, we can accommodate that. We'd be like hide the ring in the cheese.
SPEAKER_01Negative. I wouldn't recommend. We're gonna ask Corey about that.
Allergies, Safety, And Induction Cooking
SPEAKER_00Okay. Much better solution. Less risk of getting swallowed. But we've got a what we call Lover's Lane, which is you know, you walk around the restaurant, you're like, oh, this is you know, it's it's fun, it's exciting, it's beautiful. And what you what's hard to notice is there's a whole clip of very private booths uh that are like tucked away right in the middle of the restaurant, which we call Lover's Lane. And that's where you want to take your wife for your anniversary or girlfriend or your girlfriend and not be seen. Whatever they go. I don't I'm not j I'm not here just um shout out to Emma. So the idea is we want to be able to accommodate really almost any kind of experience, ideally. Um and so far I think we've so far we've been pretty successful. So safe to say you've been open for a month. Business is good? This is very good. That's great. In fact, that's just two. We uh anyone who's probably listening to this who's ever either worked in a restaurant or managed one or owned one is probably gonna understand this. But um your dish pit is like the nucleus of your operation. Okay. Um if it if your dish pit doesn't function in a restaurant, basically might as well just close the door. Well, after the first two weeks, we had to actually, we had to do an overnight project and replace our dish pit with a much larger to scale machine and stuff because we just we're having a hard time keeping up.
SPEAKER_02That's incredible. Yeah, normally businesses here, people like to come the first month or two and support the new businesses. That's so that's wonderful to hear. I mean, you're in a wonderful location. You've got Loma next door, you're right by Pinnacle, right by Shadow Valley, right off the highway. I mean, you're right by the Amp, you're in a wonderful location. Great spot.
SPEAKER_00We have some some cool concept ideas, I think, like especially for concert season. So we have if you've seen it out in the garage, we have an eight-seater golf cart. I did see that big melting part melting pot express sign on it. So our goal is gonna be to uh shuttle folks to you know, you come brilliant, come to come over our way um before the concert. Um, if you're a guest, when you're done, you're ready to go over there. We'll drop you off. Now, was that your idea or your wife's? That was my I will take credit.
SPEAKER_02That's that's brilliant. That's awesome. Parking steaks park here. Parking is rough. Terrible. So hey, I'll have a dinner and park in the parking lot. We'll drop and we'll drop you off five minutes before the concert starts. You don't have to worry about parking. Yeah. Brilliant. Yeah. And the golf cart's pretty cool too to tool around in multiple.
SPEAKER_00We'll see. It's an eight-seater, right? Yeah, it's an eight-seater. So if it if we can uh if we can clip through traffic quick enough, maybe it'll be enough.
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. Now we we were familiar with the predecessor, the restaurant that was in there. There was a really cool room in the back, like that was obviously um set up for something different. Like, what did you do in that space back there?
SPEAKER_00So the the prior or the former restaurant had a I'll call it a private cigar lounge. Yeah. It's like a members-only cigar lounge. Um that's not there anymore. Where that cigar lounge was is actually now our kitchen. Okay, so there's no seating back. There is. So there we were able to preserve a little bit of that. So if you walk from the front of the restaurant to the back, in that back corner, there's basically there's a section of windows that are floor to ceiling, all the the whole space is floor-to-ceiling windows, but in that back room, it's extra tall. So it's somewhere around 22 feet of windows, 24 feet of windows. Great view. So we preserve that as a private dining room. Oh, very um, so it'll seat 18 people. We call it different things. I call it the champagne room. My wife doesn't like that.
SPEAKER_02I can see why.
SPEAKER_00She's she's she calls it like it's a signature room.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. We'll call it the room. I like the champagne room. It's catchy. Um, but that's a space where uh it so far it's relatively sought after, especially for you know large parties, but you know, birthday parties. Um we have a number of different uh we've already had some corporate events in there. Um uh it's set up with A V. So, you know, we had a vendor in there who brought a bunch of clients in, um, so he was able to uh accommodate all of his A B needs. He did a big presentation in there. Um but it's a nice private space for um almost anything that you want to do that is gonna have anywhere from 10 to 18 people.
SPEAKER_02And is there a room for you to book that out? Just to minimum to no, no?
SPEAKER_00Just book it out? Um minimum of 10 people. Okay. Um, but no minimum as far as charge or anything like that. The other cool thing, which we're we'll kind of see what happens with this here, uh 4th of July. Um if my uh calculations are correct and my job geometry is as good as it was in sixth grade, I think from that whole side of the restaurant, you're gonna have a prime view of the fireworks on 4th of July. Um, especially from that room, but really from anywhere on that side of the restaurant. So um we'll be open on 4th of July. Make an invent out of it. Yes.
SPEAKER_01How's staffing been and just in general?
Designing For Date Nights And Big Groups
Early Demand And Scaling Operations
SPEAKER_00Pretty good. I mean, you know, a general, so my background is hospitals. Um, so I've definitely had my uh experience with, you know, nursing staffing and nursing turnover, things like that. The hospital hospitality business uh uh, you know, I think has one of the highest turnover uh you know staffing challenge paradigms of any industry. Um so far I think we've been very fortunate. Um right out of the gate, we we were able to recruit and hire a fantastic group of people. Um we had very low uh you know, the the three weeks leading up to opening is called an NRO or new restaurant opening process. And that's uh for for our our concept or our brand. A lot of folks from Tampa fly in for uh two and a half weeks, three weeks, um, and then they fly in some um expert trainers from other parts of the country. Um they have an expectation of about a 20% turnover during that NRO process of the initial from the initial staff that we hire. So they say, you know, overhire by 20 percent because we're gonna wash out 20 percent. I think we only lost two people. Oh wow. Uh we hired 68 people to opus. That's out of the people. Yeah, we now have we're up to about maybe about 100 employees now. Um but we started with 68 and we only lost two during that. That's incredible. It is. It was it was I was shocked. That's a surprisingly large number. I mean, a hundred people. Well, so it is a different um there are a couple of unique things. So uh in the heart of the house, which is the kitchen, it's a cold kitchen. We don't cook in the kitchen. So one unique thing about this brand or this concept is the the kitchen is entirely uh it's a prep chill process and then it's presentation, plating and presentation. So one interesting thing about it is when you come and eat with us or dine with us, when your food comes out to you, it's coming out in its natural stake, whether it's cheese, the cheese is prepared at the table. So you see the ingredients go into the pot, um, you see the quality of what you're about to dine on. Same thing with your bank, your entree course and your chocolate course. So there isn't a lot hidden there, right? Like if I go at if I go to a steakhouse or somewhere else, I don't really know what happened in the kitchen to my food before it got to the table. I mean, my my steak could have been anywhere in the kitchen. I wouldn't know. Um when your entree comes out, you s you're seeing everything in its natural state. So it needs to be in it needs to be of a high quality. Interesting. So the heart of the house is a little bit different. We don't have cooks because we're not cooking back there. So we have a lot of line we have a lot of kitchen staff, line prep staff. Um but where the big difference is is in the front of the house because our servers don't take more than three tables at a time. Um you know, we talked about how involved um the experiences between the guests and your server is also very involved with the guests. The server is preparing your cheese at the table. When you say preparing the cheese, what do you mean making it so that when you put in your order, you know, you get seated, uh, you know, we take your take your drink orders, we get those going right away. Um and then your server comes in and start uh takes your your um dining order. Um the first course is your cheese scores. Well, your server comes out with everything that he or she needs to make your cheese at the table. So the cheese, the uh the wine base, uh the beer base, any of those things that are gonna go into the salsa, whatever it is, that's gonna go into making that. And he or she is actually making it right at the table. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I didn't know that. Um and there's um there's just a lot of interaction between the server, and that was part of, you know, in our pre-opening process, we were very um choosy about hiring a service team that was charming, engaging. Um because there's it it's not like, you know, I can go to a nice restaurant and I may only see my server two or three times. I may see their service assistant the same number of times and someone else who's maybe running, you know, a bar back who's running drinks from the bar a couple of times. Yep. But you're the primary and mainly only person that you're interacting with in this experience is that server. Um and they're very involved. So in this concept, they don't ideally they don't have more than three tables because we want to make sure that uh pacing is really important. Um and if you know our goal for every single guest that comes to the door is the is a perfect experience. Um and we work really hard to try and accomplish that. Um and so pacing is really important because you know, if the four of us come in and we sit down to have a four course, we're gonna be there for two hours. If we miss something in that process, that can easily turn into two and a half hours. Um, and you know if you've gone to any polished restaurant where you're gonna spend a reasonable amount of money, you don't want to be sitting there for three plus hours, right? Well, you also want to turn the tables as well. And you want to turn the tables. But as good as the food might be, you can only sit in a restaurant for so long before you just kind of burn through the uh the atmosphere and the experience.
SPEAKER_02So tell me about is it a premium restaurant? Like are you on the like pricing and what is a meal cost? And where would you go like versus you got a Ruth Chris down the street, you got a Mexican restaurant next door that's premium? Like are you sitting in that premium space?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, we're so for the most part, melting pot from a price point standpoint. Um, well, from a brand standpoint or concept standpoint, it's considered polished casual. From a price point, so polished casual would be really no different than Loma or Ruth Chris. Um price point is going to be similar. Now you can come in to melting pot and do a power lunch, which is cheese and salad, and you're in and out for$20. Um, you don't have to come in and do a four-course meal. You can come in, a lot of people come in and do cheese and chocolate. Or we had a birthday party. There were like 15 ladies that came in for a birthday party the other night, and they just did salad and chocolate, which I thought was an interesting combination, but that worked, and that's what they wanted to do. It works. Um, but then they're in and out for you know$20,$24,$22.
SPEAKER_02So if you order all four courses, it's it's priced accordingly. If you order two of the courses, it's priced accordingly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so each course has a set price. So if you do all four all four courses, you're typically around sixty dollars per person.
SPEAKER_02That's not bad. No, none. That's not bad at all. And again, the main course, so what are what options? Steak, chicken, shrimp.
Concert Shuttle And Local Partnerships
SPEAKER_00So we have um see, here's a guy that doesn't actually work in the restaurant area. That's um so we have a number of different options. We uh we have some kind of like curated entree selections like land and sea, Pacific Rim, uh steak lovers, the classic. There's a whole create your own element to this where you have 14 different protein options that you can select from shrimp, chicken, filet, um you name it. Um but we have some some curated uh entrees that basically take the thought out of that game. Like the classic is it's easy, that's what I always do, right? It's everything I like. It's chicken, it's pork, it's shrimp, it's um uh filet or steak, um uh prime steak. So all of those things. But we also have like um uh vegetarian and vegan options. So if you don't eat protein or you don't eat steak or sure uh sh uh meat, uh we've got a whole option.
SPEAKER_02So that classic that you just mentioned, does it come with like rice, potato, vegetables? Like it's just it's just a poultry, just the meat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're basically gonna get a platter. The classic is gonna come with your platter of chicken, pork, steak, shrimp, right? And that that's yours. And then you might get the Pacific rim. That's basically all seafood, right? Okay. Fish allergy, we're gonna order the same for him just to mess with him. And then what we're gonna get to essentially share is a whole other platter that's gonna have potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms, all of those other things that also are gonna go in the pots, and they're they're gonna basically go in the pots at the beginning and cook in the pots. And then, you know, I'll stab my shrimp, stick that in there, it'll cook for 40 seconds, it's ready for me to eat, pull it out, put it on my plate. Making me hungry. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other thing that you get is um a whole assortment of different sauces. So if you like dipping your food, which is really kind of at the it's kind of what fondue is, you're dipping, cheese, chocolate, whatever the case may be. For that entree course, you also get a whole assortment of different um dipping sauces. I love dipping. I love dipping my food, especially my meat. Um, so we've got creamy horseradish, um, we've got uh teriyaki, um, you name it. We've got eight different types of sauces that you'll all get you'll each get your own sauce. Um the green goddess is like the signature. If my if it could be somehow fed through an IV, my wife would be like on the back porch of the restaurant just with mainly meeting the green goddess.
Space Makeover And Private Dining Room
SPEAKER_02I I feel like other restaurants you kind of have your go-to meals or your thing you're gonna order up the menu 50 or 75% of the time you go. I feel like the way the Fondue place is set up is it almost drives variety.
SPEAKER_01It does. Yeah, fair. Yeah, just depends on what you're in the mood for. Fun experience.
SPEAKER_02I I know, but you have to get up there and check it out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and sounds like you could accommodate like if there's eight of us that come in, we could all sit out one for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we have um uh besides that party room, um, we've got uh the restaurant's kind of broken down into different areas. So, in fact, our first week opened, we hosted a big party of 50 people. It was a patio party. So that's a concept that we came up with. We call it a patio social. It's very much like a mixer style, so it's cheese and chocolate only and then bar. Um, so we essentially have cheese and chocolate tenders who are out there with their chef coats on making the cheese and chocolate out of scratch. Um, all those dippers are all spread out, so you can essentially mix and match everything that you want. It's um open, you know, it's a it was a business group, so they were able to just socialize, mingle. It's great. Um we had a um we had our satellite bar set up so they could walk up, order whatever they want from the bar. Um great experience for them. But we can easily accommodate eight people. Um we have a a number of tables that we can move together to seat anywhere from eight to sixteen people. Um our cafe is set up with high tops, so that's the section right next to the bar. We have 17 seats at the bar, and you can do a four course at the bar. That's awesome. Which is a little different than a lot of restaurants where the bar is kind of um has a limited menu. And you can do anything from our menu in our bar. Um and we have a lot of folks who will walk in. Typically, like tonight, we're sold out, so if you walk in tonight, wow, you'll you'll be seated at we'll offer you a seat at the bar. Or if there's a cancellation, we might plug in. Sure. But we have a lot of couples on almost every night. Couples groups. We had a group of four guys that were not really sure what they were doing, but they were at least not getting into trouble when they were in the restaurant.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um, but they came in and they they had uh uh salad and they didn't do cheese and chocolate, but they had salad and entrees at the salad and entrees that that's so that's half the price of the full meal, I would assume 40 bucks-ish, something like that?
SPEAKER_02Right about there. Okay. So my fear 36. My fear with this has always been um because I'm so used to somebody cooking my food for me. Like I want a medium steak, I put it in too long, it's now medium well. Like, is there somebody there sort of watching, guiding that process?
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_02Nope.
Hiring, Training, And Service Model
SPEAKER_00So there are a couple angles to that. Josh doesn't cook. I'm gonna cook my food. What do you want next? Hey, listen, listen. Before we open this restaurant, um, at some point my wife will probably listen to this, so she'll laugh. Um, we've been going to melting pot for I don't know how many years. Before we opened this restaurant, I never ordered for myself. I was basically the child going to dinner with his wife. Um, rarely did I even cook my own. I didn't obviously choose my own food, and rarely did I cook my own food. Um, but it's really not hard. You get the you get the knack in a hot second. Okay. Um it's uh we have um on the back of um the menu, there's a little QR code. We also have these little stands on every table that have the QR code. You scan that, and basically what pops up is a cook timer. You hit the button if you're gonna put your shrimp in there, you hit the shrimp button, pop it in there, and it dings when it's ready. Oh, that'll make me feel better. But I will tell I will tell you this though, like uh I've been eating at melting pots for a very, very long time. As soon as it's in the pot for 30 seconds, it's safety so one one thing with how, especially if you're a meat lover like me, carnivore, you know, I like my meat medium, medium. So the cook timer may tell me I need to cook my fillet for two minutes, but it's not gonna be in that for more than for me, 45 seconds.
SPEAKER_02Okay. And you can always put it back in if you want to more, right? I mean you don't want to put it in for five minutes, then you'll be in a lot of trouble. No, that'll be a problem. Yes, that'll be a problem.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So for first timers, you know, there is a little bit of a learning curve, but just going back to the experience, the the in the intent around the experience is to create a space where people can gather and enjoy each other.
SPEAKER_02Okay. We need to make a commitment because we have not been in yet, right? Nope. So we need a table for eight. Well, that'll be as simple because Matt and Carrie won't show up, but but shout out to Matt and Carrie. Well, we need we need to get in here in the next couple weeks because I didn't know what to expect, and when I walked in, it was gorgeous. But now hearing this today, I'm like, this sounds like a fun night. It sounds like a lot of laughter. Yeah, it just sounds like a good group. It sounds like this would be a perfect. And and to your point earlier, it's easy when you're at a restaurant and you just do the normal ordering. You it's easy to disengage. Yes. And and wait. But I never thought of that. This one, you kind of have to be on your game. You gotta be present. Yeah, yeah. Great. But I like that. I never thought, like, you know, I haven't been in one in a couple years. I want my son, he had a blast, but I I never thought about how people are sitting there on their phones. Like you're you're forcing conversations. That's because you're sitting on your phone, Josh. Correct.
SPEAKER_00You now would be big trouble. Big trouble can still you can still do that. And and people do. I mean, you can walk around tonight and you'll still see a few folks that are on their phones, but it's so much harder to do under that arrangement. Sure. It just it naturally brings out interaction of people. Um, and and that's why the intention is to to create a space where people can gather and enjoy each other and and enjoy good food. Yep. Um, and it's uh the atmosphere, like I said, we spent a lot of time designing the space so that we could accommodate almost any type of uh Greek or uh experience. So if you want that fun, exciting experience, we've got that for you in the cafe. If it's just if it's you and your fifteen fifteen kids, six six um there's still time. I like it. Um we can do that too. You know, you can just it could just be you and the family enjoying each other. Or if you want to propose it. Propose one to the girlfriend. Or email to the girlfriend. Um are you open uh seven days, lunch and dinner? We're open seven days a week. Uh we owe the original kind of intent was to be uh yes, open seven days a week, open four to ten Monday through Thursday, and then noon to ten Friday through Sunday. We did decide to pivot uh this week. We opened for lunch seven days that started this past Monday. We're gonna be open for lunch seven days through December. And then January 1st will roll back to 4 to 10 Monday through Thursday and noon to 10 Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
SPEAKER_02What about like a Sunday lunch?
SPEAKER_01That would be fun. Yeah. You have the football games on? The games on? Games are on. Love it. We're gonna hit you up for a little quick tour right after this. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00If you have time. For sure. Yeah. And we have some other, we have a lot of other fun stuff too. Like the whole month of December, uh, lunch, Saturday, Sunday, the Grinch is in the restaurant. No way. Jim's there. His doppelgang. Yeah. I love it. But the Grinch is in there. So this past weekend, and then this coming weekend and the next weekend. It's married up with Santa here out front. Brilliant. But Grinch is in the restaurant 12 to 3 Saturday, Sunday. Um, I thought this would be a huge kick for the kids. I am shocked at how many adults want the picture taken with the Grinch.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But that's totally fine. Um, once we turn the corner and get into January, once a month, we're gonna do a princess lunch. So we'll actually have a uh known princess in the restaurant. Oh, I'm in. One lunch every month. No, for the kids, for the kids. So, like Ariel or you know, who's the one for Frozen? What's her name? You know, you know, Jim.
SPEAKER_02Um what's the song from Frozen? The gross song. Let it go. Let it go. I knew you would know.
Pricing, Menus, And Flexible Combos
SPEAKER_00You don't have to. We'll have like in March, there'll be a weekend where for lunch, usually these are lunch things, but we'll have uh the Dr. Seuss characters in there. Your marketing is fantastic.
SPEAKER_02Are these your ideas or your wife's? Remember, she's gonna watch the podcast. Most of them are mine, and I feel like she's a little resentful. Wow. I mean, it's brilliant marketing. Yeah, it's brilliant marketing. It does seem like an experience. Yes, yes, no doubt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. Um, website. Website, uh, we have that uh it's here somewhere. It's not uh it's uh melting pot. Uh yeah, we'll have to add that in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Melting pot perfect. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it is it is a franchise, melting pot is a franchise. There are 98 in the U.S. We're the 98th to open. Six are owned by the MultiPower Corporation, 92 are individually owned by franchisees like um like us.
SPEAKER_02But what's important, because franchisees, I'm a franchise owner as well. Locally owned, locally operated. Very important for people to understand. Oh, the chain's coming in. Locally owned, locally operated.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we live 18 minutes away.
SPEAKER_02That's exciting. Yeah. Well individual. Yeah, we're glad you came in. We're gonna go upstairs for a tour uh and maybe book a reservation for dinner in the next week or two. Love it. We have bourbon up there too. Fantastic. Now we're in.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Congratulations. Thank you on an exciting opening. Um already great success. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate you having me in. Thank you for coming in.