Manitou Springs, Colorado
Manitou Springs is a cool little town outside of Colorado Springs--all around the town there are these statues with spring water and it's free! All the different springs taste different too. That in itself is super cool, but after an afternoon of Spring Testing and playing in the huge nickel arcade, and appetite can be worked up! Thank goodness for Mona Lisa!
We decided for our date night to go all out and go to the Mona Lisa. The building itself is awesome--an old home (most likely) which has been converted to a restaurant. It's huge, but it's separated into littler rooms giving it a cozy feel. It just oozes romance!
We decided on the Dinner for Two, which included a salad course, cheese course, meat course, and CHOCOLATE! First, I had the house salad with mango vinaigrette. Delicious, and aptly sized considering what's coming up next...
There were 3 main cheese fondues to choose from (and about 4 specialty ones), but we kept it traditional with the Old World Cheese Fondue consisting of Emmental and Gruyere cheeses and a white wine base. It was delicious, and was especially scrumptious with the rye bread and the apples. At the Mona Lisa, if there's something you'd like more of...they bring it to you! No more lamenting about running out of the "good" dippers. Our cheese course was paired with a pinot grigio.
After our cheese came the meat course, complete with the cute little grill. Since we live in Colorado, we ordered the Wild Game entree because, well, why the hell not? It came with Colorado Rainbow Trout, Buffalo, Duck Breast, Elk, and Wild Boar sausage. There was also a little plate of veggies (roasted potatoes, onions, peppers, cheese, bread, and a pickle) that could be grilled as well. Plus a tray of 6 dipping sauces. My favorite was the chutney, and although I loved them all I can't for the life of me remember which is which. The meat was tender and we were given instructions on how not to overcook them. Our meat course was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Our final and most anticipated course was the Chocolate course. We ordered the Milk Chocolate and added a shot of DiSaronno. It was amazing and paired very well with the fruit. The mandarins were especially wonderful with the amaretto. Each little piece of dessert was delicious on its own, and then blasted to a whole other level when dipped in the chocolate fondue. And much to my liking, our dessert was paired with Taylor Fladgate 10 Port, which is my favorite port (save for the 20).
The Mona Lisa is, hands down, my favorite fondue place. It's quaint, charming, and most importantly, ABSOLUTELY YUM. With good food, good atmosphere, and good service, there's really no way to go wrong! Manitou Springs is off the beaten path, but well worth the drive from Colorado Springs. You may need to be rolled out to the car afterwards...it's a lot of food, but totally worth the extra time at pilates. And, of course, there's the kiss game. I may or may not have "accidentally" dropped a piece of fruit in the fondue to steal a kiss from my hot date!
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