Wine and Fondue, With a Dose of Kitsch

Before going to La Cave des Fondus, it’s wise to warn your dining companion that the wine is served in baby bottles.

“That’s creepy,” my friend said. Then, with furrowed brow: “How can the wine breathe?”

For the record, the bottles are made of glass, not plastic. The egg-yolk-colored latex nipples have been slit so you can drink, not suckle. And the embossed measurements mean no cheating on the wine pour — you get eight ounces.

The joke is that the French word for baby bottle (biberon) is also slang for a bottle of booze. The idea to conflate the two originated at Le Refuge des Fondus, in Paris, which La Cave is modeled after, down to the tightly set communal tables and benches that require clambering over your neighbors.

The subterranean space is self-consciously kitschy, with waiters in suspenders and newsboy caps and a soundtrack that can only be described as techno can-can. It’s the perfect backdrop for fondue, whose party-game mechanics — spearing and dunking — trump nuance.

The fondue savoyarde ($21 a person) is a meld of Gruyère, Swiss and Comté, accessorized with bread and pale cubes of ham. Every now and then, a waiter stops by to studiously stir the magma with a little spoon.

The exceedingly mild cheese mixture is saved from banality by the savory submersibles available à la carte. Expertly crisped frites ($6) add a thrust of salt, marinated mushrooms ($5) an acid bite.

In the fondue bourguignonne ($21 a person), pieces of raw hanger steak are cooked by dipping in a bubbling bouillon, then dredged in your choice of béarnaise or a pink béchamel reminiscent of the Big Mac secret sauce.

Valrhona chocolate fondue is paired with cream-filled profiteroles ($10) or fruit ($9). The highlight of dessert was the precariously tiny pot, which tilted wildly from side to side with each plunge of our long forks. It gave my formerly skeptical companion the giggles.

“I have to admit,” she said, swigging from her baby bottle, “I’m enjoying being forced to eat slowly.”

EASY GLUG Wine is served in baby bottles at La Cave des Fondues in NoLIta.