ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — Two restaurants in Rocky River are turning their outdoor patios into miniature ski resorts.  

Wine Bar and Market added ski chalets and gondolas to their menu of seating selections to offer groups socially-distanced dining. 

Husband-and-wife couples Paula and Don English, and Leslie and Dale Pritchard know each other pretty well. 

“He’s one of my baby brothers,” Paula said referring to Dale. 

The group stays in touch regularly and has eaten at Wine Bar before, but Saturday, they grabbed lunch in an unlikely place. 

“I was a little bit surprised,” said Don English, referring to the gondola they were seated in. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I couldn’t be happier with it.” 

Dale Pritchard said it was very open and comfortable.

Restaurant owner John Owen came up with idea of bringing a taste of the slopes to his restaurants. 

“Little après ski party,” he said. “We call it our après ski village.”

Three authentic ski gondolas that once served skiers at the Steamboat resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, are now hosting guests at Wine Bar. Another two gondolas are set up outside Market. 

“Figured out a way we could have outdoor dining in case we got shut down,” said Owen. “So, we wanted to be able to have our staff stay employed.”

He said, so far, the slope-side atmosphere has been successful, with steady bookings for each of the two-hour availabilities, increasing the restaurant’s bottom line by about $1,000 per hour.

“I think people need to dine on experiences right now,” said Owen.

Each gondola seats two to four guests and larger groups can book a ski chalet, which hold eight to nine people.

“As stressful as the pandemic has been on everyone, to try to live a normal life we’ve tried to make fun out of a terrible situation,” said Owen. 

His restaurants are the only places in Ohio that offer the option to dine inside a repurposed ski gondola. He said the only other restaurants that offer the experience are in New York and Colorado.

“It’s kind of cute that these have actually been used before, you know, for people who are skiing,” said Brittany Santilli.

She and her husband, Patrick, are no strangers to the slopes. 

“He went a couple days ago, actually,” said Brittany Santilli. 

“But, not normally,” said Patrick Santilli.

“I was going to say, we’re not good skiers,” said Brittany. “We know how to ski.”

It’s not so much the ski theme, but the chance to dine in private that convinced the couple to come to Wine Bar for a “day date.”

“This is a nice solution where we can interact with each other and not have to wear masks and not be concerned that we’re passing something, or other people are passing something to us,” said Brittany Santilli. 

To help ensure guest safety, Owen said his team receives a special hospital-grade sanitizer through a partnership with Purell, and each gondola is fully sanitized every two hours.

Reservations can be made online for both restaurants at their website.