More than a decade in the past, Matthew Viragh was a Texan with a dream. He needed to serve moviegoers booze and ready meals as they sat in their seats. In Brooklyn. But he had a state Prohibition-era liquor ban to deal with first.
Viragh, who left promoting for the theatre enterprise, employed an Albany lobbyist. The lobbyist rounded up some pleasant lawmakers, and Nitehawk Cinema obtained its want in 2011, turning into New York State’s first authorized dine-in theatre. Then, Viragh started creating cocktail and meals choices themed to the films he was providing.
“It was a long shot,” he mentioned in a current interview.
“I didn’t quite expect it to happen, so we were prepared to operate how we initially set it up, where we would have a restaurant and bar in the front area. It certainly has created opportunities for other theatres, too, in the city.”
With two Brooklyn areas now and a loyal following, Viragh has prolonged his dream to a cookbook, Nitehawk Cinema Presents, providing fan-favourite recipes and cocktails tailored for house. He and his group of cinephiles, cooks and mixologists throw in bits of movie historical past, too.
There’s “The Dude Abides,” a coffee-infused, vodka-and-egg-white concoction with stout, ancho chile, walnut and salted honey syrup, in homage to the White Russians that Jeff Bridges’ character downed like Kool-Aid (“Jesus, you mix a hell of a Caucasian, Jackie”).
“Try the Veal, It’s the Best in the City” incorporates veal, new potatoes, olives and sliced blood orange in honour of The Godfather.
Viragh envisions his book utilized by house cooks for each movie-themed events or quiet, romantic evenings of ‘Nitehawk and chill.’ Photo: AP
In the traditional movie trilogy, oranges could be seen in scenes involving deeply significant loss of life. The identify of the veal dish relies on a line uttered by the character Virgil Sollozzo earlier than Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone shoots him to loss of life, although the Nitehawk book attributes the well-known phrases to deprave police Capt Mark McCluskey. He, too, was executed in the restaurant scene.
The shiny cookbook is an element schtick, just like the cocktail “Red Rum,” a mixture of rum and hibiscus syrup for The Shining (for the uninitiated, “redrum” is homicide spelled backward), and half literal film reference, just like the “Cup O’ Pizza” from The Jerk.Viragh was impressed by Alamo Drafthouse, a dine-in theatre chain with liquor and beer service and an rising presence now in New York. It was based in Austin, Texas, the place the Fort Worth native went to varsity.
“After school, I moved up to New York to pursue some other things and always missed that sort of experience,” he mentioned. “There wasn’t anything like that up here and I thought it would be a wonderful addition to the New York film and culinary scene.”
To work out how to do this, Viragh headed to Portsmouth, Virginia, and frolicked at The Commodore Theatre, a restored Art Deco cinema with a advantageous eating restaurant in the principle auditorium.
“The owner, Fred Schoenfeld, was nice enough to take me in and let me spend the summer down there. He gave me room and board, and I basically learned all the ins and outs of running a dine-in theatre,” Viragh mentioned. “I knew that I could do this.”
Viragh lives in an condominium atop his authentic location in the Williamsburg neighborhood together with his spouse and two kids. Combined, his theaters have 10 screens and 836 seats. He renovated a historic cinema for his second location, the outdated Sanders theater that opened in 1928 simply off Prospect Park. Viragh preserved touches from the previous, together with marble stairs hidden beneath carpeting.
Special feasts and themed dishes and drinks at Nitehawk come and go along with the first-run, arthouse and traditional movies he exhibits, however just a few menu gadgets are everlasting by widespread demand. Some are included in the cookbook, just like the “Leatherface Jerky” with Thai chili, garlic and soy sauce, an ode to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Viragh envisions his book utilized by house cooks for each movie-themed events or quiet, romantic evenings of “Nitehawk and chill.”
He and key members of his group labored on the undertaking throughout probably the most dire isolation throughout the pandemic, when the theatres closed for a yr and Viragh was compelled to furlough many on workers. The book, with properly over 100 recipes, was printed in early December by The Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company.
“We were working on this book before the pandemic, but it was slow going. We had, obviously, a lot more time on our hands and it exploded into something even larger than we imagined. That was the only silver lining of the closure,” he mentioned.
The Nitehawks, like different eating places, served curbside and supply when permitted throughout the pandemic.
Business has picked up since then and menu specials are again, like a “Shark’s Daiquiri” and a “Jet’s Manhattan” in celebration of the new West Side Story. Special one-off screenings are additionally again and embody the upcoming Purple Rain, with a serving to of fried cheese curds and purple ketchup on provide to have a good time Prince and his native Minnesota.
As for the book, Nitehawk patrons are gobbling it up.
“I didn’t have any expectations about the sales of the book at all,” mentioned Viragh.
“I’m just pleased we did the book and stayed busy during our closure. It’s a celebration of all the talented people who have worked here over the years and what we’ve created together.” – AP
