NYC's NoMad Hotel Is Doing a Fondue Menu and It's Everything
"Calling all turophiles: NoMad New York is your next destination. In a few weeks, the hotel bar will be reprising their pop-up prix-fixe fondue menu—with an entire course devoted to melted cheese. For $55 a person, you can eat your way through three courses, but take note: The menu will only be available in the evening on Sundays, from November 11 through the end of the year, with a special New Year's Eve menu on Monday, December 31. So make sure you block off at least one of the days on your calendar (or all of them, we won't judge). Inspired by NoMad chef Daniel Humm's childhood in Switzerland, the menu begins with chicken consommé soup, partnered with a winter green salad, charcuterie board, and pretzels with Dijon mustard. What follows after is the true pièce de résistance: For course two, guests will be served fondue moitié-moitié, a traditional Swiss recipe that calls for half Gruyere cheese, half Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP—a cow's milk cheese with buttery, nutty flavors. The mixture will be accompanied by boiled marble potatoes and crusty Pain au Levain, a naturally leavened French bread, as well as black truffle with scrambled egg. The special New Year's Eve menu takes things to the next level; for $125 a head, the charcuterie board and pretzels are swapped with caviar (to be enjoyed during course two instead), and the main fondue is replaced by fondue Chinoise, served with dry-aged ribeye, beef tenderloin, and veal. Of course, certain etiquette applies to communal dishes like fondue, and we've got a list of rules straight from The NoMad. Double-dipping is an absolute no-no, as is dropping bread into the pot of cheese—if you make that crumby faux-pas, you'll have to buy the table a round of drinks (they're joking...we think). True enthusiasts also insist on stirring the fondue counterclockwise, in order to prevent the cheese from separating. But in reality, you'll probably be too focused on the melted cheese to think straight. Should you find yourself overwhelmed by cheese (unthinkable, we admit), you'll be able to cleanse your palette with dessert. Surprisingly, chocolate fondue didn't make it onto either menu. But after a slice of tarte Tatin and sips of shümli pflüml, which is essentially the Swiss take on Irish coffee (coffee, sugar, plum eau de vie, and whipped cream), we doubt you'll miss it. Once the meal is through, you can spend the rest of your Sunday exploring the NoMad's gorgeous Beauxs-Arts rooms—and mentally prepare yourself to do it all again the following weekend. Good news: The hotel is taking reservations, which can be made using Resy."
