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| A so-so film goes down better with Farrelli food | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Michael Grady, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| April 23, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The evening teeters toward “buyer’s remorse” — when you and your date realize your $8.50 didn’t buy all the sassy repartee the trailer promised — when someone heads my way down the aisle. Do I need to get up? There’s ample room, but the shadowy figure heads straight for me. Rising ominously between Nicholson’s squinty eyeballs, he slides me a plate of shrimp pasta, tells me to “enjoy,” and is gone. OK, I’m giving Jack another chance. CLASSIC COMBO “Dinner and a movie,” the classic Tracy-Hepburn date night combo, never dance closer than they do at Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club. Here in the heart of a northeast Phoenix shopping center, the 7-year-old family franchise serves appetizers, entrees and cocktails in the flickering light of late first-run films. It compresses the traditional one-two punch of a restaurant dinner, followed by a trip to the cinema. Does that make the experience better, or more like the “Forrest Gump”/Lean Cuisine night at my home Wednesday? The answer lies mostly in the details: Farrelli’s is fronted by a swanky bar. The two auditoriums are nice-restaurant-meets-old-time-movie-house: velvet drapes, dark wood, wide aisles and comfy, free-range chairs. Cinephiles used to playing “elbow chicken” over the armrest will delight in their ability to slouch and splay. You could spin full circle, with your legs outstretched, and not hit another patron. (But you could clip a waiter and wind up wearing your appetizer, so just trust me on this.) Dinner begins before the movie, and the artichoke and spinach dip ($7.95) was a sight to behold: golden cheese, laced with green spinach and crowned with multicolored chips. It looked like a van Gogh sunset and tasted delicious. When the movie started — without commercials or previews — we learn, quickly, that two guys have cancer. So first round goes to the dip. Supping and cinema blend very well here. Generous spacing means the 10-by-26-foot screen isn’t framed between the skulls of your neighbors. No scraping of cutlery can be heard, and waiters are attentive without distracting. (You’ll get one of those crazy, disco-ball coasters with a button that allows you to call a waiter, and you won’t use it.) “The Bucket List” hits its stride about the time the entree arrives. So if you don’t completely buy Morgan Freeman’s soulful everyman, shove a shrimp in your mouth and see if you feel differently. The shrimp and penne in basil pesto ($18.95) was tasty and probably looked good, too. But it was served in the dark, so I have to take that on faith. Held up to the screen — where our heroes are sowing their oats with a globe-hopping wish list odyssey — I see that the shrimp are quite large, they are dusted with pine nuts, and Morgan Freeman has enormous pores. In most cases, the food is better than the movie tonight. But the two elements play tag team, and your attention jumps to whatever is working well. PAYIN' THE PIPER “The Bucket List” actually finishes strong. It’s one of those uneven films whose good points make you wish they’d given the bad ones more attention. Dinner has a strong ending, too. Farrelli’s desserts range from apple strudel to creme brulee. But the entrees, and even the dinner salads, are substantial enough to hold you through the closing credits. The food, the spread-out feel and the leisurely pace of the meal are pleasant enough to make you wonder why this sort of thing isn’t done more often. The check may tell you why. With entrees priced in the $15 to $23 range, cocktails $7 to $10 and an $8.50 movie ticket, it isn’t unusual for two people to walk away a C-note lighter. That would be a lot of money to see “Run Fatboy Run” or find out if Horton really heard a Who. But it still makes a dandy break from the mosh-pit cineplex. I left Farrelli’s, burping up the evening’s best performance and wondering what it would be like when the movie matched the meal. If they can weave a nice experience around a two-and-a-half-star film, how nicely would it frame a solid hit like “Sweeney Todd”? OK, not “Sweeney Todd.” You’d never move the marinara sauce. FARRELLI’S CINEMA SUPPER CLUB What: Dinner AT the moviesWhere: 14202 N. Scottsdale Road When: Noon to approximately 10 p.m., everyday Cost: Movies are $8.50 for adults; $7 adult matinees; $5 for children 12 and under. Dinner prices vary. Contact: (480) 905-7200 or www.farrellis.com Contact Michael Grady by email, or phone (480) 898-6572 |
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