Dante's Down The Hatch

"That chocolate took eight hours to brew." Those were the first words Dante, the restaurant owner, said to us as he sat down at our table. He did not look 106 years old like our server said. He probably wasn't a day over sixty-five. Maybe they just told the customers that to make them laugh.
I was wondering all of this as I sat at a table with six of my friends on August 17th. I had just finished my first day of college classes and was out celebrating my friend Lauren's birthday with some high school friends. We celebrated at one of Atlanta's most famous restaurants, Dante's Down the Hatch.
Dante's Down the Hatch is a jazz and fondue restaurant and club, designed around an 18th century sailing ship. Yes, there is a huge ship in the middle of the restaurant. It is made even better by the fact that you can actually eat on the ship, which is surrounded by a moat which contains two crocodiles and two turtles, which Dante himself rescued. Katherine Heigl was in town filming her newest movie the week before I was there. She, her cast members, and crew ate at Dante's several times while they were in town. If it's good enough for one of my favorite actresses, it's good enough for me!
The main event of the night was of course the fondue itself. We did not have just regular fondue, however. We had chocolate fondue! For those of you who don't know, chocolate fondue is a BIG DEAL at Dante's. It's the most sought after item on Dante's menu. This is because it is so special. Dante's only does chocolate fondue once a day every Sunday through Thursday. This is because the Swiss-honey chocolate is HAND- FOLDED by Dante's chefs and takes eight hours to brew! Even the beautiful arrangement of fresh strawberries, honeydew melon, bananas, and so much more fruit is hand-picked at the market. They even throw in marshmallows!
Like many other people, I would never say no to a night of taking as many different foods as I can and dipping them in a home brewed, warm, honey-based chocolate. That was my first fondue experience and I can still remember the taste of the warm sweet chocolate on my tongue. It felt like Christmas morning in August. It was a night of great conversation and great food. I know what I'm doing next Valentine's Day. As an anonymous person once said, "Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate!"