The Melting Pot Restaurant Inc., a Florida-based fondue restaurant, is exploring space in the Des Moines metro as it looks to expand to Iowa.

The company, which turned 50 in April, is the only fondue franchise in the U.S. with 92 locations around the country, according to Collin Benyo, the company’s franchise growth strategist.

The Melting Pot features tables with cooktops in the middle. The first course is a cheese fondue prepared at the table with bread, vegetables and fruits to dip in the fondue. That is followed by the  entree that is cooked tableside, with the meal finished off with a chocolate fondue with pound cake, strawberries and other items to dip. The company recently introduced its Dubai chocolate as that trend grows.

Benyo was in Des Moines last week to meet with chamber leaders and other officials to test the water and begin looking for available space. The restaurant, which he described as “experiential dining,” needs between 4,000-5,700 square feet to operate.

That could be either new construction or second-generation space, Benyo said.

“That’s the beauty of this brand,” he said. “If you were to walk into any kitchen in a Melting Pot through the U.S., you’re not going to find a kitchen that I think was serving a great dinner to folks,” he said. “There is no traditional hot kitchen. We don’t have fryers, flat tops, ovens or hoods to clean. We don’t require that and that puts us at an advantage in order to see second-gen restaurant space and almost lower that operations side to create a better restaurant.”

The company hasn’t narrowed down its search in the metro and is keeping its options open.

Benyo said Des Moines checks all the boxes for The Melting Pot.

“It’s an easy layup to say fondue has the affluence that you could see it doing well in New York and L.A., and at the same time we are a unique brand,” he said. “We know who our guests are. We do all the market segmentation data. We have mapped out the types of people we see throughout those 92 locations. We know what types of people they are and what kinds of activities they enjoy, their family size, income levels and Des Moines has all that.”

After running sales forecasts, Benyo said, “This is a city I need to see.”

In addition to the demographic attractiveness of the metro, Benyo said the ease of commute around the area is also attractive.

“I believe there are a lot of places we could consider putting a Melting Pot and it would not only serve the community here in Greater Des Moines, but I know from talking to people about what this city means to the state and all the draws that bring people from across the state, all the events that happen here, you’re not only looking at the population within 10-15 miles. It really expands beyond that, too.”

The metro also meets the company’s minimum population requirement of 200,000, “yet it’s small enough that it doesn’t have the capacity to be multi-unit,” Benyo said.

Benyo said he hopes to have a franchise partner in place by the end of this year. Once a site is selected, construction would take about six months.

The Melting Pot operates under a dinner-only model, seven days a week. Each restaurant employs 30 to 50 people, he said.

It costs between $1.6 million and $2.7 million to build a restaurant and get it operational. About a third generate up to $3.5 million in revenue a year, Benyo said.

“We understand who we are and we have a pretty darn good playbook that we have put together over the past five decades, and we’re just looking for the right people to pass that on to,” he said.