seasonal dinner experiences, one secret ingredient, a curated dinner menu, & building community
once a month, we pick one ingredient at the peak of its season and center an entire menu around it, adding a surprise to every course throughout the night.
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one secret ingredient with a color theme to match
the ingredient is picked at the best time of the season, sourced locally, and a color theme is chosen for the experience based on that ingredient.
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building community
we typically host at a large community table if space allows: family style but plated, where you meet new friends or reconnect with old ones over a meal. sometimes a private residence, sometimes a local bar, revealed the day before. twenty-four seats, and not one more.
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the reveal
before the first course, the secret ingredient is revealed. every course is prepared to surprise once it is known.
it’s your table: bring your appetite and good company and we will take care of the rest.
seats go through instagram and partiful. when they’re gone, the season closes.
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.
seven ingredients. seven full menus. no repeats.
- 01 corn
- 02 pumpkin
- 03 beets
- 04 peas
- 05 mint
- 06 rhubarb
- 07 carrots
have the whole table to yourselves.
the question keeps coming, so here is the answer: yes, you can book calé privately.
the full secret-ingredient experience, the reveal and all, set privately for your celebration or gathering. we bring the menu; you bring the room and the people.
email us for a quote- 01 a tour of your spaceso the night fits the room
- 02 your guest counthowever many chairs we are pulling up
- 03 a color or ingredientyou pick the theme, the menu follows
a smaller table, out in the city.
we take calé out to bars and restaurants, in a smaller pop-up format.
the pop-ups already on the calendar live on what’s next.
if you want us to bring the color of the season to you for a pop-up or collaboration, this is the place to start.
email us to bookalso coming up
smaller-format pop-ups at bars and restaurants around the city
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casual calé at the pitch
august 30, 2026
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casual calé at fifty fifty gin club
september 27, 2026
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no. 09
coming soon
a 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.
for private tables and venues, reach us by email.
two self-taught cooks, and one idea born around the dinner table.
calé was born out of friendship, a longtime passion for cooking, and countless memories around the dinner table with friends and family. caroline and alex, one in tech, one in pharma, neither classically trained, turned that into a table of their own, and they haven’t stopped cooking 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
“This hidden gem of a pop-up was created by two self-taught chefs.”
cincinnati citybeat · kane mitten · june 2026
read the storythe 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 go through instagram and partiful; follow along to be at the next table.
where we gather
calé pops up across cincinnati, ohio and northern kentucky. a variety of locations, sometimes a private residence, sometimes a local bar, with the exact spot revealed the day before the event.
a secret-ingredient dining experience
hosted, cooked & set by caroline & alex
seven seasons in · made with care, eaten in good company