Cinema snacks go gourmet
Popcorn is getting truffled, sodas replaced with flutes of champagne and bags of M&Mās swapped for fairytale macarons in a trend thatās elevating the cinema-going experience into a gourmet treat.
Popcorn is getting truffled, sodas replaced with flutes of champagne and bags of M&Mās swapped for fairytale macarons in a trend thatās elevating the cinema-going experience into a gourmet treat.
Following the lead of New York and London, the menu at filmmaker Luc Bessonās newly opened multiplex cinema outside Paris includes munchies like caviar, smoked salmon, glasses of bubbly, and macarons by one of the countryās top pastry chefs, Pierre HermĆ©.
The EuropaCorp cinema, which opened this month, is the latest theater around Paris to give new meaning to the term dinner and a movie, placing renewed importance on film food.
Cinema social clubĀ Le Popcorn Project, which shows films at Le Club de LāEtoile near the Champs-ElysĆ©es, has tapped the cityās burgeoning food truck scene to cater its monthly screenings and offer gourmet sandwiches, dim sum, savory tarts, quiches and pies.
Indie movie theaters and boutiques in New York and London have likewise Ā been offering more sophisticated versions of cheese sauce-soaked nachos and popcorn for gourmand cinephiles.
Over atĀ Edible CinemaĀ in London, food is synchronized with the movie to add another dimension to the movie-watching experience. For instance, during a scene in āPanās Labyrinthā where characters run through a pine forest, patrons munch on pine-smoked popcorn to evoke the sensation of the trees and the sound of the needle-laden forest floor.
When Marilyn Monroeās character in āSome Like it Hot,ā covers Junior with āalcohol-soaked kisses,” movie watchers bite into lightly powdered, rose-tinted Turkish delight with a champagne-flavored liquid center. Popping candy also emulates the sensation of bubbles.
And atĀ Nitehawk CinemaĀ in Brooklyn, chefs create film and food pairings that involve tucking into meals like crispy pork belly, blood orange gastrique, and a āBucket of Bloodā cocktail during a screening of the horror flick āCarrie.ā