Thank you to the Swiss for never hesitating to scrape warm cheese over just about anything, with blatant disregard for caloric consequences. Stable on H Street NE is the District’s go-to place for food from the Alpine country and this season, Swiss co-owners David Fritsche and Silvan Kraemer are making their raclette options more accessible and a little more fun.

Previously, those who wanted a meal based on the pungent, gooey cheese had to make a reservation for a minimum of four people. That frustrated some diners, who wanted to order it a la carte. Now raclette will be available to everyone on Thursday evenings. Just flag down the server walking around the dining room with a warm wheel of cheese.

Diners can stick to the basics and blanket traditional potatoes and pickles with raclette ($6) or they can be bold and order the raclette dog—something Fritsche isn’t sure he would ever see in his home country ($9).

To build the raclette dog, Fritsche layers crunchy cornichon pickles on the bottom of a house-made hot dog bun with an onion salad made from Spanish onions doused in mustard and balsamic vinegar. Then comes the sausage and cheese topped with a sprinkling of paprika, pepper, and curry powder. 

The only thing Stable doesn’t make is the sausage because they don’t have the proper equipment. “But we found somebody who makes a frankfurter that’s very close to the one my cousin makes back home,” Fritsche says. His cousin owns a butcher shop. “I grew up with good meat and sausages.”

Fritsche was inspired to create the raclette dog when he visited Switzerland this summer and noticed that there were hot dog stands in every train station. He came back and added a hot dog to the menu. “One day, we didn’t know what to do for family meal,” he explains. Family meal is the food offered to staff at the start of a shift before the doors open to the public.

“We wanted to make cheese dogs but couldn’t find anything to make a cheese sauce like Americans do, so we said, ‘Let’s just scrape on raclette cheese.’” 

While the special raclette menu is only offered on Thursdays, fondue is available every night Stable is open so you’re never without your hot cheese fix.

Stable, 1324 H St. NE; (202) 733-4604; stabledc.com