What to eat while watching a violent movie
I went to see a movie not long ago, and after the lights went down I noshed on popcorn, Goobers and Raisinets. As usual, they tasted pretty good. Then, as the movie continued, I had an egg roll dipped in tomato relish, some eggplant caponata served beneath three slices of pork tenderloin, a freshly fried doughnut on a puddle of pomegranate jam, and an amuse-bouchesized milkshake made with small-batch artisanal peanut butter ice cream.
No, I hadn’t smuggled the contraband into the theater in Tupperware containers in my purse. I was attending a “Film Feast” — a themed tasting menu served by a stealthy, nimble wait staff during a movie screening — at Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Nitehawk is one of hundreds of dine-in movie theaters that have popped up nationwide over the past several years, and it’s one of the most ambitious.
In a way, the dine-in theater is a logical extension of the way most movie theaters make money. Typically, theaters split the proceeds of ticket sales with studios, with studios taking a majority of the revenue during the first couple of weeks of release and theaters getting a bigger cut the longer the movie is shown. The proceeds that movie theaters make from ticket sales rarely cover the costs of employee wages and equipment, so movie theaters make up the loss by charging exorbitant prices for ridiculously large portions of snack foods (and by showing commercials before movies).
While customers tend to grumble (or sue) when asked to pay $6 for a container of popcorn that would cost a few cents to make at home, they are generally happy to shell out for dishes carefully crafted by professional chefs. Which is where dine-in theaters come in: They’re upfront with customers about the fact that food is a major part of their business model. Charging more money for higher-quality food — and serving full meals instead of just snacks — lets Nitehawk charge less for the movie tickets themselves. (General admission to first-run movies at the Nitehawk is $11 instead of the $14 that’s typical in New York City.) Serving restaurant-caliber dishes also lets Nitehawk charge extra for special events that explore the interplay between food and cinema — like the Film Feasts, which cost $75 per person.
At most Nitehawk screenings, you order à la carte from a menu consisting of typical upper-midscale restaurant fare — kale salad, truffle ravioli, bresaola, etc. — plus beer, wine, and cocktails. Film Feasts are a different animal. At these monthly events, patrons are served a multicourse tasting menu (with drink pairings) that’s themed, and timed, to complement specific moments in the movie. The goal is what Nitehawk chef Michael Franey calls “a 4-D experience,” in which the food enhances your appreciation of the movie, and vice versa.