Certain kinds of dining necessitate the invention of new utensils: Asian cooking begat chopsticks, clam chowder brought about the crazy straw, and now there are forks long enough to keep cheese away from hands. Skinny dip with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of fondue at The Melting Pot in Durham.

The Melting Pot serves up a menu of cheese fondues, dessert pots, and American cuisine. Diners clink glasses before embarking on a voyage across the steamy sea of mouthwatering melts with a selection from the cheese fondues. Each fondue is escorted by an entourage of fresh bread, vegetables, and apples, which are captured by spears for convenient dipping or fencing matches across the table. Morsels dive into fontina and butterkäse cheese to mingle with spinach, artichoke hearts, and garlic in the spinach-artichoke cheese fondue ($16) or plunge into the Fiesta cheese fondue, in which lager beer, jalapeño peppers, and salsa latch onto tidbits for a safe ride into mouths ($16). An array of surf 'n' turf tempts tongues with dishes such as the Seafood Trio entree, in which juicy shrimp, sesame-crusted ahi tuna, and cedar-plank salmon sonorously harmonize on renditions of inspirational power ballads ($24). The Melting Pot also offers gluten-free menu options upon request.