I've fallen in love. With a movie theater.
So I went to he movies last night. There's nothing unusual about that, but where I went to the movies was incredibly and wonderfully unusual. My friend Mike and I went to Tampa's brand new CineBistro theater .
CineBistro got its begin over the summer in Miami. The new one inside the Hyde Park neighborhood in Tampa is the second CineBistro in this marketplace and the 0.33 inside the chain. CineBistro is a challenge of Cobb Theaters and there are plans underway to open additional places in Daytona Beach, Atlanta, Savannah, suburban DC and Vail, Colorado.
CineBistro is a movie theater unlike any I've ever been in. For starters, they're a complete-provider and full-menu eating place and you've to buy your tickets in advance. Your film price ticket is likewise your dinner reservation. The indicates start later than traditional, and the idea is which you should arrive a half of an hour earlier than showtime. Once you're shown for your seat, a waiter comes along and reviews the chef's specials, answers questions and takes a drink order. They have a complete bar and an intensive wine listing. A separate bar runner brings your drinks at the same time as the server takes your order.
As my server explained to me last night, they do not serve courses. The goal is to get all of your food in front of you before the movie starts. The menu was adventurous and very regional. By that I mean it was very Florida-specific. Churrasco, plantain fries and yellow rice are very common foods here but I wonder how they'll play in DC or Atlanta. Hmm. Anyhow, my dinner was fantastic. Any place that puts whole anchovies on a Caesar salad is A-OK in my book.
I stated that their purpose is to have your dinner served before the movie starts and that goes for paying the bill too. The servers have handheld registers and that they region your order from wherein they may be status. The servers have a small printer placing from their aprons, in order that they swipe your credit card and print the receipt as they're standing in front of you and I idea that became quite cool.
The theaters only accommodate around 50 people and there's an over-21 age restriction in place at all times. The seats are very wide and have two arm rests per seat. Now more arm rest wrestling. Hurray! No screaming kids. Hurray!
The public areas of the theater are beautifully done. I noticed that the chairs in the bar were all Philippe Starck and all of the lighting was by Tech. Somebody spent a lot of money...
Anyhow, it's a fantastic idea and I can't believe no one's thought of it before. A movie theater for grown ups. What a concept. Thanks CineBistro!