Eclectic hotel adds The Chilled Cork and Zeona’s

Michel Bonnot and Cheryl McInerney

CHATHAM, ON—A new restaurant opened in this city last month, in a hotel that is probably unique in Canada.

With seating for 80, The Chilled Cork Food Emporium and Wine Bar is on the ground level of the Retro Suites Hotel in downtown Chatham.

Owner Rob Myers says in a release that after the recent addition of nine new suites and Zeona’s, a 2,500-square-foot facility for banquets and conferences, “the addition of on site dining completes the hotel guest experience.”

The new restaurant is run by Cheryl and Bruce McInerney, who shut down their seven-year-old restaurant in Chatham, Zeona’s Natural Food Emporium, to take over the new hotel dining spot.

Cheryl McInerney is a self-taught chef who started as a waitress and has worked as a banquet manger during her more than 30 years in the food business. Her husband Bruce is a wine lover, so the job of putting together a cellar has fallen to him. He also bartends.
The restaurant’s kitchen also handles catering for the banquet centre which can seat 217. It has been busy with mainly corporate events during the week and mostly weddings on weekends. It has bookings right into February, 2010.

Working with Cheryl McInerney in the kitchen is Michel Bonnot, who trained as a pastry chef in his native France and in Switzerland. He has moved from Mont Tremblant, Quebec where he was executive chef at Microbrasserie La Diable. Bonnot is no stranger to restaurants, having operated several during his 50 years in the cooking business. He has also been a culinary instructor at Clarke College in Belleville.

The release describes the hotel restaurant as “specializing in seasonal cuisine and serving only the finest in fresh ingredients.” It is open daily for breakfast lunch and dinner.
Rob Myers and his wife Cathy, who designed all the hotel rooms, brought their eclectic tastes to laying out the dining room as well. At the back is a lit up cabinet with a collection of old radios and microphones (a couple of which were used by Elvis Presley). While the chairs are generally wood, one is quartz and another is glass and chrome and there are a variety of tables. All this is in a room dominated by off-white and light brown colours with accents of light maple wood.

The Retro Suites Hotel was originally opened in 1996 by local entrepreneur Rob Myers to provide a place to stay for customers of his RM group of companies, which restore and sell rare and exotic automobiles.

Each of the hotel’s 25 suites has a different theme, with decorations to match.