The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Reel-fun dinner
It can be strange at times, but dinner with a movie a cool experience at Silverspot
I’ve been waiting for Northeast Ohio to get something like the new Silverspot Cinema in the Pinecrest development in Orange Village for what feels like an eternity.
I’ve talked to friends in other cities who have access to similar dine-in theaters — a friend in greater Cincinnati somewhat regularly goes to two — and I always thought dinner would pair with a movie as well as peanut butter with chocolate.
Not dinner and then a movie. Dinner AND a movie.
I’d been to Silverspot not long ago for an advanced movie screening and found the modern theater to be very nice. Like many theaters, they have the big reclining leather seats, but theirs come with an attached swiveling tray, complete with a cupholder. On that first night, I used the tray to hold my notebook and water bottle and thought of the more appetizing possibilities.
On a recent Friday, my friend Erin and I decided to make a night of Silverspot and its in-house restaurant, Trilogy — from the New York City-based Craveable Hospitality Group.
I bought tickets for a dinnertime showing of overthe-top shark romp “The Meg.” I’d already seen it, which would leave me to focus on the food side of things. (And, if I’m being completely honest, I thought a cocktail or two would wash down a second viewing of “The Meg” rather nicely.)
The company’s website advises you to be in your seats about 30 minutes early if you plan to order food — as you might imagine, the delivery of food to seats stops before the movie starts. So our plan was to meet about 30 minutes before that, hoping we’d have time to enjoy drinks and appetizers at the bar.
Entering the business is strange. The structure that holds it also is home to others. You discover, with some trial-and-error, that you want the doors all the way on the right. Inside you find no signs that you’re in the right place, but once you climb the staircase that feels right out of an industrial complex, you find that you indeed are.
Things got off to a lessthan-ideal start when we sat ourselves at the near-empty bar in the middle of the modern, attractive Trilogy, which sits around the corner from the row of movie auditoriums. Employees behind the two-sided bar, complete with the obligatory flat-screen TVs, occasionally made eye contact with us and then moved along instead of asking if we’d been helped.
Finally, after what felt like ages but probably was about five minutes, one woman did check in with us, giving a polite but unmoving apology for us being ignored, stating she thought someone had attended to us.
Increasingly worried about time, we quickly ordered the Guacamole ($10, gluten-free) and Beef Empanadas ($9) from a selection of more than 15 apps. Those two selections also are among a handful noted for being able to be prepared quickly, a nice touch considering folks may want a quick bite before a movie.
Erin also ordered a Prosecco and I the Trilogy Classic ($10/$15), a rocks cocktail with Tito’s Vodka, St. Germain, Solerno blood orange and club soda.
I need to stop here to note what I would have assumed was, but perhaps is not, standard operating procedure. My guess is more people than not dining in Trilogy also will be seeing a movie, if they hadn’t just come out of one, so you’d think a staffer would ask you if you are going to one and what time it starts. That didn’t happen. (You certainly can just pop in for a bite, but with many other eateries at Pinecrest, I have to believe those who do are the exception.)
After we ordered, I asked how we were doing on time and whether we needed to take our food and drinks into the theater to have time to order entrees, and the server seemed to be taken aback by the situation. That said, once she understood our needs, she was a great help. We were given our checks so we could close out our tabs with her before moving to the auditorium, and, when our food arrived, she had it arranged on a tray. A runner then accompanied us to our seats and presented the appetizers on those chair trays. Not the smoothest chain of events, but it ultimately worked out just fine.
Another plus for Silverspot and Trilogy: I really enjoyed the appetizers. The guac, served with tortilla chips to spare, was very tasty and a bit on the spicy side, which I loved but which was a slight challenge for Erin. Because the empanadas were even spicier, she steered clear of them, which was my gain. Served with a savory chimichurri and a sweet chilli sauce, the zesty little Spanish pastries were delicious.
Other appetizer choices include Loaded Nachos ($12), Chicken Tenders ($11), BLT Lobster Roll ($16), Goat Cheese Crostini ($9),Blistered Shishito Peppers ($9) and Pretzel Bites ($8) — the last three also among those that can be prepared quickly.
When the server got to us, Erin chose one of five sandwiches, each of which is served with fries and range in price from $11 to $13. I wanted one of the six entrees, ultimately choosing the Beer Battered Fish Tacos ($16) over the Shrimp Pesto Orecchiette ($15).
This is a good time to mention that while the drinks are a bit overpriced — a pint of Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Burning River pale ale on draft is a hefty $8, for example — the food is, at worse, only slightly so. Nothing reaches $30 — and by passing on the $28, 10-ounce New York Strip Steak, I was all but assuring I’d never eat a steak while watching a movie in a theater — and only three items reach $20 or higher. (The others are the Smoked Ribs and PanSeared Salmon, both of which sound pretty tasty.)
You pay for food and drinks ordered inside the theater at that time, and a gratuity in the neighborhood of 20 percent is included in the total. It’s a little strange, but it’s hard to think of a better way to handle payment.
The food did arrive shortly before the previews started, and we sat through so many trailers I think I had finished my tacos by the time the last one had ended.
Those tacos, like the guac and empanadas before them, were delicious and had a nice kick to them — although I was glad I still had the sauces from the empanadas. The three-taco entree would benefit from an accompanying sauce, as well as an actual side dish.
Erin, meanwhile, was underwhelmed by her Grilled Portobello “Burger” ($11), feeling it had too much of the balsamic vinaigrette that was promised on the menu along with fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil pesto and arugula. It’s served on a ciabatta bun.
Erin also didn’t love that our plates remained on our trays once we were done, but, to me, that’s a lesser evil than having someone coming through aisles to grab dishes and glasses. (It did mean that she went back to picking at her fries and I the tortilla chips from the guac after a time had passed.)
There are desserts — specials of the day and ice cream — but I wanted something a bit more adult. So, mid-movie, I ventured to the bar and ordered one of three martinis, the Start Me Up ($11), with coffee, Bailey’s Irish Cream and vanilla vodka, and returned to my seat to enjoy it with the rest of “The Meg.”
Like the overall experience of dinner and a movie at Silverspot, it wasn’t quite all I’d hoped it would be, and it was a little overpriced.
But I’m really happy it’s something I can have if I want it.
The food did arrive shortly before the previews started, and we sat through so many trailers I think I had finished my tacos by the time the last one had ended.