Avalon steps up its food in the theater
A few months before stylish Mistral opened in the Avalon Theater building, chef Joe Schreiter upgraded the food that was served to movie-goers in the cinema, where servers take orders at the seats.
Gone are the prefab offerings, replaced with items made in the kitchen. (Beer, wine and mostly classic cocktails are served, too, including a proper Manhattan.)
There are snacks, like stretchy cheese curds in panko bread crumbs ($7), served with the theater’s own dressing made with buttermilk and fresh herbs, and crunchy chicken tenders coated with ground popcorn and served with hand-cut fries ($8), more like a meal.
And there are sandwiches, including a fine example of a hefty Cuban sandwich ($12) thick with pork shoulder and ham.
The pizza is light years beyond frozen; it’s a hand-tossed Neapolitan-style crust, thin with a crackly, chewy rim. The Spicy Spanish ($13) brought the heat with chile flakes, scattered among Spanish chorizo, shards of manchego cheese, Spanish olives and fresh arugula (fold the slice to avoid an avalanche of greens while your eyes are on the screen).
If only the food were available outside the theater, too — like pizzas at the Mistral bar during happy hour, maybe? That’s wishful thinking on my part, but Schreiter allowed that the theater is mulling ways to make the pizza more widely available.