Dinner and/in a Movie Theatre- Nighthawk Cinema Review

Yesterday my husband and I had a rare date...  We went to Nighthawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for Brunch and a Movie, The Ides of March.  The movie was good, great performances by Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman and George Clooney, but the experience is even better: at Nighthawk, you get dinner AND a movie IN a theatre, all at the same time.  Nighthawk is in a converted warehouse, and has two bars (upstairs and downstairs) to lounge in before or after the movie.  With three screens, the venue is cozy, without feeling cramped (Angelika in Soho, take note).

Both times we've been to Nighthawk, we've seen movies in the first theatre, which may be the biggest of the three.  The chairs are upholstered with fabric, and they're comfy.  Between every two chairs is a small triangular table with a little nightlight.  You write down your food order (there's a menu at each table) and a server takes your order for food and/or drink.  There are cup holders built into the tables, which is nice because they serve the sodas/iced coffee/teas in real glass and you wouldn't want them to spill or fall.  The first time we went to Nighthawk, we saw the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, and I had the grilled chicken on a pretzel roll w/tarragon mayo ($13).  It (the sandwich) was okay... good, but not great. The movie was one of Allen's best in a long, long time.

Yesterday we went to Nighthawk for brunch, but I opted for the Drive-Thru special:  A In-n-Out Double Double Burger with Fries and a Soda for $12.  The double patty burger with American cheese sauce was delish, and the fries were hot and crispy.  Root Beer to wash it all down, with free refills on sodas.  (The Drive-Thru special was themed to match another movie they were showing in the theatre, Drive.; they also were serving an antidote to the movie Contagion:  Chicken Noodle Soup.  Clever, eh?)  My husband had the Veggie Burger both times, with fries.  I had a bite -- very tasty.

They also serve appetizers like mini corn dogs (puppy dogs), hummus, queso, seasoned popcorn, etc.  and desserts (soft service ice cream, root beer floats, home-made ice cream sandwiches, brownie sundaes, etc.)  They used to serve beer and wine, but there's some law that needs to be ironed out before they can serve alcohol again in a theatre.  We'll see.

Oh, and they serve the food on real plates and hand out silverware....not plastic.

What I love about Nighthawk is the feeling that it's an experience.  You get there early ON PURPOSE, not just to get a good seat, but because they show videos, short films, and quirky vignettes starring the film's actors (we saw Woody Allen clips before Midnight in Paris and Philip Seymour Hoffman zany clips before the Ides of March), as well as standard trailers.  It feels like an event....ordering food, being served, eating decent cuisine during a film....and it's FUN.

Review:  *****  Nighthawk is a welcome and excellent addition to the neighborhood.

Radegast Hall & Biergarten, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Restaurant Review

Rating:  ****

Well, a Memorial Day isn't complete without some quality family time.  After we went to the East River Park, my husband, daughter and I sauntered over to the Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  What's wonderful about this establishment is that it is both all about beer and totally kid-friendly, too.  Sounds like a paradox, no?

We've been there a few times, for both brunch and for dinner, and the staff is friendly, the beer is great and the food is good too.  There's a dark, intimate restaurant/bar side, with cozy booths, a labyrinthian bar and candle-lit tables, and a bright biergarten side, with huge skylights 20 feet up (which were removed for open-air ambiance today) and long communal tables.

The food is good in general, sometimes great.  The standouts are their enormous pretzels (served with delicious sweet/hot mustard and cornichons) and their fries.  Today I had a bratwurst, which was good, but I've definitely had better (I'm a Stassenfest/Oktoberfest veteran from Midwestern German stock)....  The skin-on fries which are perfectly sized (not too skinny, not too fat) were hot, crispy and delicious.  We devoured the fries while waiting for the sausages.

What's a bit of a pain is that the grill is self-serve -- so if you want any bratwurst, fries or sausage, you have to walk over to the grill, place your order and wait at your table.  The grill master wasn't too busy, so he took our orders over to us when they were done, but I think you're supposed to check on them yourself.  They have other food that's on the menu and ordered from a server...more expensive, more fancy, but not necessarily better than the hearty grill fare. One time for brunch I had the  eggs with potato pancakes, thick-cut bacon and apple horseradish relish -- it was quite tasty, especially the potato pancakes and bacon.

We've only gone to dinner there once.  I had the smoked pork chop with spinach mashed potatoes and cabbage.  It was an enormous portion -- I shared my meal with daughter (I think we called the cut-up pork "chicken" and she liked it) and there was plenty to spare.  The pork chop was smoky in flavor, juicy and thick -- quite good.  I used to hate eating pork chops as a kid because they were always so dry -- now it's a fun change of pace, but I only trust a few restaurants for good chops (nearby Fanny also has an excellent pork chop).

They serve .5 L tall glasses and enormous1 L mugs of of beer.  I prefer the half-liter glasses, because even if I want that much, the liter mugs would get warm too quickly for me to enjoy it.  My favorite draft beers are the Schneider Weisse and the Franziskaner Hefe-Weizen.   The Franziskaner Hefe-Weizen is a wheat beer, but its a lot more citrusy and tart than others I've had.  The Schneider Weisse is a nice medium amber beer that has interesting spice notes, but goes down very smooth and is not bitter on the tongue.

Back to the kid-friendly aspect.  I'd say 50% of the seated parties today had either infants, toddlers or kids with them.  It's refreshing to be among your peers, yet be with your kids and not feel like you're in a pizza parlor or a McDonalds.  The mood at Radegast is joyous...the sun was shining, the beer was cold and everyone was having a great time.  It made for a memorable Memorial Day.

http://www.radegasthall.com/