no. 08 · the red dinner · August 16
calé
One secret ingredient. An entire menu built around it. Revealed only at the table, to a precious few.
We pick one ingredient at the peak of its season, then let it lead every course of the night.
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An ingredient, in season
Every season brings a new ingredient, never the same one twice. Once a dinner is finished, that flavor is retired for good.
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A home, not a restaurant
We host at the family table, in a private Cincinnati home: candlelight, linen, real plates, a kitchen you can hear. Twenty-four seats, and not one more.
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The reveal
You arrive not knowing the ingredient. We tell the room together, course by course, as the night unfolds.
Invitation only. Seats are released through Instagram. When they’re gone, the season closes.
Two self-taught cooks, and one idea somewhere over the Atlantic.
calé began on the flight home from Spain, still chasing the afterglow of a Michelin-starred meal. Caroline and Alex, one in tech, one in pharma, neither classically trained, landed with an idea they could not put down. They started cooking. They haven’t stopped since.
Each ingredient is sourced close to home, from local farms and gardeners, sometimes straight out of Caroline’s father’s garden.
- cl Caroline Leach host · cook · by day, in tech
- ad Alex Driscoll host · cook · by day, in pharma
the orange dinner · carrots · july 2026
the orange dinner
Season seven, lit in carrot and amber. Four courses drawn from a single root, revealed the night of.
Season seven, the orange dinner, the full menu as printed for the table.
Seven ingredients. Seven full menus. No repeats.
- 01 corn
- 02 pumpkin
- 03 beets
- 04 peas
- 05 mint
- 06 rhubarb
- 07 carrots
no. 08 is the red dinner, August 16. Follow @cale_experience for the reveal.
“This hidden gem of a pop-up was created by two self-taught chefs.”
Cincinnati CityBeat · Kane Mitten · June 2026
read the storyA table this hard to get into is a question worth answering.
Twenty-four seats, hotly contested. Culinary professionals around the city taking notice. Private tables already being asked for. calé has outgrown the kitchen it started in, and the next season is about where it goes.
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Bigger tables
Larger venues that keep the intimacy and lose the scramble for a seat. Same candlelight, same reveal, more chairs pulled up.
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Private calé
The full secret-ingredient dinner, booked privately for celebrations and gatherings.
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Casual calé
Smaller-format pop-ups landing at bars and restaurants across the city.
For private tables and venues, reach us on Instagram.
the next ingredient is still a secret
Come sit at the table.
We never announce the menu, and the secret ingredient stays sealed until the night of. Seats are released through Instagram; follow along to be at the next table.