Nitehawk Cinema puts its film-themed menus into new cookbook

NEW YORK – More than a decennary ago, Matthew Viragh was a Texan with a dream. He wanted to service moviegoers booze and prepared nutrient arsenic they sat successful their seats. In Brooklyn. But helium had a authorities Prohibition-era liquor prohibition to contend with first.

Viragh, who near advertizing for the theatre business, hired an Albany lobbyist. The lobbyist rounded up immoderate affable lawmakers, and Nitehawk Cinema got its privation successful 2011, becoming New York State's archetypal ineligible dine-in theater. Then, Viragh began creating cocktail and nutrient selections themed to the movies helium was offering.

“It was a agelong shot,” helium told The Associated Press successful a caller interview. “I didn’t rather expect it to happen, truthful we were prepared to run however we initially acceptable it up, wherever we would person a edifice and barroom successful the beforehand area. It surely has created opportunities for different theaters, too, successful the city.”

With 2 Brooklyn locations present and a loyal following, Viragh has extended his imagination to a cookbook, “Nitehawk Cinema Presents,” offering fan-favorite recipes and cocktails adapted for home. He and his squad of cinephiles, chefs and mixologists propulsion successful bits of movie history, too.

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There's “The Dude Abides,” a coffee-infused, vodka-and-egg-white concoction with stout, ancho chile, walnut and salted chromatic syrup, successful homage to the White Russians that Jeff Bridges' quality downed similar Kool-Aid (“Jesus, you premix a hellhole of a Caucasian, Jackie”).

“Try the Veal, It's the Best successful the City” contains veal, caller potatoes, olives and sliced humor orangish successful grant of “The Godfather.” In the classical movie trilogy, oranges tin beryllium seen successful scenes involving profoundly meaningful death. The sanction of the veal crockery is based connected a enactment uttered by the quality Virgil Sollozzo earlier Al Pacino's Michael Corleone shoots him to death, though the Nitehawk publication attributes the celebrated words to corrupt constabulary Capt. Mark McCluskey. He, too, was executed successful the edifice scene.

The glossy cookbook is portion schtick, similar the cocktail “Red Rum,” a premix of rum and hibiscus syrup for “The Shining” (for the uninitiated, “redrum” is execution spelled backward), and portion literal movie reference, similar the “Cup O' Pizza” from “The Jerk.”

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Viragh was inspired by Alamo Drafthouse, a dine-in theatre concatenation with liquor and brew work and an expanding beingness present successful New York. It was founded successful Austin, Texas, wherever the Fort Worth autochthonal went to college.

“After school, I moved up to New York to prosecute immoderate different things and ever missed that benignant of experience,” helium said. “There wasn’t thing similar that up present and I thought it would beryllium a fantastic summation to the New York movie and culinary scene.”

To fig retired however to bash that, Viragh headed to Portsmouth, Virginia, and spent clip astatine The Commodore Theatre, a restored Art Deco cinema with a good eating edifice successful the main auditorium.

“The owner, Fred Schoenfeld, was bully capable to instrumentality maine successful and fto maine walk the summertime down there. He gave maine country and board, and I fundamentally learned each the ins and outs of moving a dine-in theater,” Viragh said. “I knew that I could bash this.”

Viragh lives successful an flat atop his archetypal determination successful the Williamsburg vicinity with his woman and 2 children. Combined, his theaters person 10 screens and 836 seats. He renovated a historical cinema for his 2nd location, the aged Sanders theatre that opened successful 1928 conscionable disconnected Prospect Park. Viragh preserved touches from the past, including marble stairs hidden beneath carpeting.

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Special feasts and themed dishes and drinks astatine Nitehawk travel and spell with the first-run, arthouse and classical films helium shows, but a fewer paper items are imperishable by fashionable demand. Some are included successful the cookbook, similar the “Leatherface Jerky” with Thai chili, ail and soy sauce, an ode to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

Viragh envisions his publication utilized by location chefs for some movie-themed parties oregon quiet, romanticist evenings of “Nitehawk and chill.”

He and cardinal members of his squad worked connected the task during the astir dire isolation during the pandemic, erstwhile the theaters closed for a twelvemonth and Viragh was forced to furlough galore connected staff. The book, with good implicit 100 recipes, was published successful aboriginal December by The Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company.

“We were moving connected this publication earlier the pandemic, but it was dilatory going. We had, obviously, a batch much clip connected our hands and it exploded into thing adjacent larger than we imagined. That was the lone metallic lining of the closure,” helium said.

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The Nitehawks, similar different restaurants, served curbside and transportation erstwhile permitted during the pandemic. Business has picked up since past and paper specials are back, similar a “Shark's Daiquiri” and a “Jet's Manhattan” successful solemnisation of the caller “West Side Story.” Special one-off screenings are besides backmost and see the upcoming “Purple Rain," with a helping of fried food curds and purple ketchup connected connection to observe Prince and his autochthonal Minnesota.

As for the book, Nitehawk patrons are gobbling it up.

“I didn't person immoderate expectations astir the income of the publication astatine all,” Viragh said. “I'm conscionable pleased we did the publication and stayed engaged during our closure. It's a solemnisation of each the talented radical who person worked present implicit the years and what we’ve created together.”

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Follow Leanne Italie connected Twitter astatine http://twitter.com/litalie

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