Winter wonderland takes over The Victoria Room site

Looking for a little apres action this winter without the ski resort price tag?

From the ashes of The Victoria Room in Darlinghurst, a winter wonderland will rise on Thursday, complete with a chairlift above its entrance stairs and an in-house snowmaking machine.

The Chalet, which opens in the recently closed Victoria Street venue, is the creation of a group of Sydney style-shapers, Adam Abrams and Julian Tobias from floating venue The Island, and Eddie Levy and Michael Hwang, operators of The Lobo Plantation cocktail bar in the CBD.

The menu is pitched at the fluffy snow-boot brigade, with fondue and a jaffle bar complementing a drinks pitch set to include mulled wine and hot chocolate.

It isn't the only white fever act in town, with ice skating kicking off last weekend as part of the Winter Garden project on the forecourt of St Mary's Cathedral.

The Chalet's foursome, who have another project in the works, a restaurant under the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay, know Sydney's cold weather doesn't last, so the Darlinghurst venue will be a three-month pop-up, with the rambling space to be re-imagined as a more permanent venue in spring.