Christmas may be long gone, but the holiday pop-up vibe lives on (and gets a luxury upgrade) at the InterContinental Hotel’s Winter Chalet experience. Through the end of February, diners and hotel guests can book a deluxe, European-inspired winter meal that will have you feeling like you’re lounging at a ski chalet in the Swiss Alps — all without leaving the city limits.
The hotel’s on-site restaurant, Table 45, has outfitted both its chef’s table and three heated, outdoor igloos with Hallmark movie-worthy winter decor (think soft faux furs, evergreen boughs and shimmering lights). Both spaces feature a special, distinctly European menu separate from the restaurant’s other food and drink offerings.
“When it comes to winter in Cleveland, you’ve just got to lean in,” says Craig Campbell, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “This experience is meant to allow you to transform yourself for a moment.”
Winter Chalet-exclusive menu, from Ben Geltzer, Head Chef de Cuisine, and Omar Jones, incorporates Swiss, German and French food traditions, making for an extravagant, communal and distinctly European experience. It includes individual offerings like soup, salad, steak and salmon, but the “sharing entrees,” as they’re called, are the real stars. Each features some sort of DIY element, like grilling, dipping or assembling, that helps foster a buzzy, intimate atmosphere: Load up a raclette grill with shrimp, lambchops, veggies and ooey-gooey cheese ($160); split a platter of Ohio-made sausages and locally sourced mustards ($60); and dunk skewers of bread, veggies and meat into either a creamy cheese blend ($80) or a traditional German Fleischfondue with a warm, meaty broth ($120).
At $14 apiece, the specialty cocktails are on-par, pricewise, with others throughout the city, but for the flawless precision with which they’re made, they feel like a deal. The Coffee Campfires, topped with delicately torched marshmallows, gives a decadent s’mores twist to the classic espresso martini; the gin-based Alpine Flower, made with jasmine tea, lemongrass syrup and a hint of lime, manages to be both warming and refreshing.
From the midst of such a posh experience, it’s hard to believe the hotel sits amid Cleveland Clinic’s main campus — and that’s the point, Campbell says, both for out-of-town hospital guests and local visitors alike.
“We really tried to create a winter oasis,” he says, “where you can be with friends or family and just be able to forget about everything else that’s going on around you.”
The Winter Chalet is now transitioning to a Valentine’s Day theme, making for a romantic dinnertime getaway; or, if staycations and room service are your thing, it can also be set up in your hotel room, winter decor and all. Either way, be sure to plan ahead: It’s available by reservation only, and it must be booked at least 24 hours in advance.
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
