In September, Castleton restaurant Melting Pot was named restaurant of the year among 92 locations in the company’s national chain of fondue eateries.
Franchisee Rob Arias purchased the local Melting Pot during the pandemic as part of a small spree of acquiring restaurants that specialize in fondue—the Swiss cuisine based on dipping bread and other foods into melted cheese.
Arias, who lives in Florida, owns seven Melting Pot restaurants and plans to open 20 more during the next decade or so.
No franchisee owns as many Melting Pot locations as Arias, who said customers continue to gravitate toward the brand’s menu of cheese fondues, salads and chocolate fondue desserts.
Melting Pot launched in Florida in 1975, when communal dining associated with fondue was a prominent social trend. Multiple episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” featured fondue as a plot device, and Will Ferrell’s lead character in 2004 retro comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” was a fan of the dish.
“If you were to look at a graph from 1975, when the first Melting Pot opened in Maitland, Florida, to today, with 92 units, you’d see an upward trajectory,” Arias said. “That’s interesting for something that is maybe nostalgic or possibly, in some circles, considered dated.”
Arias said the 7,000-square-foot Melting Pot restaurant at 5650 E. 86th St. thrives under the leadership of its general manager, Rob Cuba. From 2021, when Arias acquired the restaurant, to 2022, sales increased 45%.
At this year’s Melting Pot annual conference in Reno, Nevada, Cuba collected top honors in the categories of operator of the year, regional core values and regional restaurant of the year.
The overall restaurant of the year award was presented to the Indianapolis location and Arias’ company, Cartel Hospitality.
Arias said his company’s name is influenced by the Swiss Cheese Union, otherwise known as the cheese cartel, which controlled cheese production in the European country from 1914 to 1999.
“A coalition of gentlemen started what is now referred to as the cheese cartel, and they helped to position the dairy industry in a way that allowed the dairy farmers to survive through World War I,” Arias said.
In contrast to dimly lit, secluded booths identified with yesteryear’s fondue restaurants, today’s Melting Pot locations feature open layouts. Arias said remodeling was mandated by the parent company in 2022.
“Now all the locations nationwide have a much more modern feel on the interior while still maintaining the character of an upscale restaurant,” he said. “It went from being like a Swiss chalet at a lot of locations to a more modern look.”
Although Arias declined to speak in specifics about expansion plans, The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported in July that Melting Pot representatives visited the Allen County city to meet with local economic leaders and tour potential sites.
A Melting Pot restaurant in Greenwood served customers from 2006 to 2013. The Castleton restaurant opened in 1997.
