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The mess was partly what caused the at-home fondue trend to flame out in the late 1970s. But at the Melting Pot, all the prep work is done for you--which is one reason this chain, based in Tampa, Fla., has doubled in size to 70 locations in the past three years. Not every diner embraces the experience. Dragged in by enthusiastic wives, "men often sit with their arms crossed ... that is, until we fill them up with good wine," says Will Layfield, owner of the Melting Pot in Westwood, N.J. At the Vinoklet, diner Greg Schafer grouses, "I don't cook at home, and if I'm going to pay good money, I want someone to do the cooking for me." What's more, do-it-yourself dining isn't cheap. At the Minturn Country Club in Minturn, Colo., Kobe beef costs $49.95--uncooked. Still, restaurateurs insist that the customer knows best. "Who knows what to them is rare?" says Mikulic, owner of Vinoklet. "This way, if they screw it up, I get no complaints." Back at Chung Kiwha in Florence, patron Puckett sees it this way: "We don't have to clean up, do we?"
--With reporting by Rita Healy/Denver, Kristin Kloberdanz/Chicago and Andrea Tortora/Cincinnati