Chalet pop-up event back at EQ

Chalet, located in Equatorial Hotel Kuala Lumpur, was one of the only establishments where European cuisine was served and food prepared tableside in the 1970s. The experience was often the first venture into fine-dining for many guests, with Chalet having a reputation for its impeccable service and adherence to the minutiae of haute cuisine.

EQ will be bringing back the Old World charm and grandeur of Chalet in a special pop-up event from July 29 to August 17, 2024, from 6pm nightly with a special menu featuring the most memorable of its offerings. These range from the famed raclette Valaisanne, an elegantly luxuriant dish of melted raclette cheese served with new potatoes and cornichons; classic Swiss cheese fondue with truffles for two (fondue au fromage), viande de grison (Swiss air-dried beef with pickles), freshly minced steak tartare and pan-fried duck liver in port reduction.

In keeping with the restaurant’s history, only the finest imported ingredients will be used at the dinners, with entrees including Maine lobster, Norwegian salmon, Zuercher Veal Emince, New Zealand rack of lamb, and Australian wagyu. One of the most iconic of Chalet’s meat dishes, the canard ala presse (the classic whole roasted duck on the press for two) will also be available during the pop-up period, as will the cote de boeuf roti ala Anglaise (slow-roasted beef, baked potato, Yorkshire pudding and bearnaise sauce in a tribute to the British roast).

A quintessential Chalet experience, the crepes Suzette served tableside with a flambéed flourish, will also be recreated at the dinners. Other classic desserts on the menu include souffle glace au Grand Marnier, warm strawberry souffle, and sabayon, the voluptuous, velvety egg-yolk crème. Each order of the famed dessert will be prepared tableside, with waiters performing the ‘sabayon dance’, which lend brevity to dessert time, allowing waiters to interact with guests as they go about the steps of whisking the egg yolks and sugar until a perfect sabayon is formed.

To end dinner with a European flourish, the beloved coffees from the original Chalet will also make a reappearance. These include the iconic Café Royale with its bracing cognac and whipped cream, Café Calypso with rum, coffee liqueur and whipped cream, and the star of the after dinner menu, Kafi Luz, the famed Swiss alcoholic coffee prepared with plum and Williams pear brandy (known as Träsch in Switzerland).

EQ General Manager, Gerard Walker, is pleased at the response the Chalet pop-up has garnered. “Chalet is one of those places you never forget. The Old World polish, and the gravitas of the dining experience is something many gourmets have cut their teeth on. The Chalet pop-up gives us a chance to offer this experience to a new crowd who are hungry for a taste of fine-dining done the traditional way. An experience like Chalet helps a food appreciator understand the tradition and evolution of cuisine, while for old-time guests of Equatorial Hotel, this pop-up will be akin to seeing a good old friend once more.”

The Chalet experience is open for reservations. Reservations and enquiries can be emailed to dineateqkl@kul.equatorial.com, WhatsApp 012-278 9239 or call 03-2789 7722.