I found out the other day that the Fondue Stube will be closing its doors February 15. After the last can of Sterno is extinguished in the dining room on Valentine’s Day, the restaurant will be closing for good, ending 32 years as a north side dining institution.
A friend of mine put it best: “Fondue Stube ain’t chic; it’s not a place to be seen.” He’s right. I bet the restaurant looks the same as it did when it opened its doors in the ‘70s. But he and I are Fondue Stube fans. We agree there’s a lot to be said for a place that so openly eschews trends and refuses to take on the corporate cookie-cutter look, feel and attitude of most restaurants today. It’s a place where you recognize the wait staff, and they recognize you. They remember what you like, and they take your order standing up. As for your meal, cholesterol and fat counts and Weight Watchers points be delightfully damned. The Fondue Stube wants you to drench your salads in Roquefort dressing, dunk your bread bites in cheddar cheese, fry your meats in soybean oil and dip your pound cake cubes in hot fudge. When you feel like being decadent, the Stube is hard to beat.
I remember when it was in vogue to give a bride and groom a fondue pot. But that was a long time ago. Somehow, the Fondue Stube’s been able to keep it going, succeeding in their own niche for three decades, giving diners exactly what they expect. I like everything about that.
(The closing of the Fondue Stube leaves Geja’s Cafe in Lincoln Park as the only heritage fondue restaurant in Chicago. Geja’s dates back to the mid ’60s.)
