My first raclette dining experience took place in Europe. I knew raclette was a type of cheese, but didn’t really know about the process and techniques surrounding the raclette dish. Luckily, most places serving raclette offer instructions to rookies like me. If you don’t know, raclette is a Swiss dish traditionally made by melting cheese and scraping it off onto potatoes, cornichons, and cured meats. The cheese itself, also called raclette, is semi-hard and has a creamy texture when melted.
The dish is usually prepared using a special raclette grill, which has a heat source above the cheese wheel and small pans for melting individual portions. As the cheese melts, it’s scraped onto the plate, creating a deliciously gooey and savory experience. That experience can be had on a monthly basis at the Scion Cider Bar in SLC, which is hosting their Raclette Dinner Series for at least the next five months, starting on November 13. My wife and I attended the inaugural evening of Scion’s Raclette Dinner Series last week and it was a gooey, cheesy, fun experience that I’d be happy to repeat on a monthly basis.
Electric Raclette Grill
Gathered around electric raclette grills – Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Table Grills, in this case – the raclette dinners at Scion Cider Bar are communal, social dining experiences where you can gather with old friends or make new ones, as we did.
At the Scion Cider Bar Raclette Dinner Series, guests share communal raclette grills and are provided with a leafy green salad and delicious French Dijon vinaigrette, La Charlotte boiled potatoes, cornichons, charcuterie such as salami and cappacuolo, imported Mifroma raclette cheese, and dessert bites to finish.
Simply load up your plate with whatever appeals to you, melt the raclette cheese, toast some charcuterie and spuds on the grill and live it up!
A nice person from Raclette Queen – which teams with Scion Cider for these events – suggested smashing the potatoes a bit so that the cheese adheres better to them. When your raclette is nice and melty, just scrape it onto the potatoes and enjoy.
Of course, Scion Cider Bar offers more than 225 different ciders, including their own, but also ones from around the globe, as well as beer, wine, spirits and cocktails. We enjoyed some French and Champagne-inspired ciders with our raclette dinner and I especially liked a cider produced by Rio Connelly and his team at Scion called Poached Pear, a local pear & apple blend, with coriander, clove & lime. The cider is semi-sweet, tart and spice-forward with pear notes, both warming & refreshing at the same time. Note that at the Raclette Dinner Series alcohol is not included and is billed separately.
The cost per person for the Raclette Dinner Series at Scion Cider Bar is a mere $55 per person for the food, tax and service charge included. Upcoming Wednesday Raclette evenings will take place on November 13, December 11, January 15, February 12 and March 12. Reservations are required and Scion Cider Bar is a 21+ venue; valid IDs are required for entry.
If you’d like to try making raclette at home, I recommend a nifty portable raclette grilling set from Boska, which is perfect for two people and sells for about $25 on Amazon. It uses tealight candles for heat and is great at home or for camping. At home I like to melt raclette onto fingerling potatoes, sliced fruit such as pears and apples, and baguette slices.
For a really fun, tasty evening out, be sure to drop into one of Scion Cider Bar’s Raclette Dinner Series events.
Photos by Ted Scheffler
Culinary quote of the week: “What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?” – Bertolt Brecht
