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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a DC comic-book-themed restaurant and it's coming to a famous old corner of Soho very soon.
Based around DC’s Super Heroes and the Gotham-verse, Park Row is set to open on Brewer Street on August 10, featuring five restaurants and bar spaces, immersive special effects and theatrical magic.
The most lavish space will be the 20-seat Monarch Theatre, where for £195 you'll be able to get stuck into an 11-course tasting menu that pays tribute to some of the DC world's best known Super Heroes and Super-villains. Surrounded by floor-to-ceiling screens, this is dinner-and-a-show taken to the extreme, a meal "designed to trigger specific emotions", which sounds a bit intense.
The food includes "a ‘poisonous’ mushroom made from a rich and earthy parfait, a decadent scallop, oyster, caviar and white chocolate dish topped with gold leaf, a USDA Black Angus tenderloin with truffle fit for Bruce Wayne's dinner table and edible jewellery." Bring on the delicious bangles and brooches, say we.
For some context: "The Monarch Theatre was once at the heart of entertainment for Gothamites until it shuttered its doors following the tragic deaths of Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne in the alley adjacent to the iconic movie house over 20 years ago. As an homage to its history, The Monarch is now the crown jewel of Park Row, elevating dining and entertainment with an exhilarating restaurant experience unlike no other." Bookings are open now.
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Just off Regent Street, the Grade II listed Art Deco building Park Row has taken over used to part of The Regent Palace hotel, before its main restaurant became Marco Pierre White’s celeb-tastic 1990s spot Titanic, which was just above the Brit art hang out The Atlantic, which is now Brasserie Zedel.
Park Row's other dining rooms take their inspiration from The Penguin, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Catwoman and more with The Penguin’s swanky Iceberg Lounge, a big restaurant and bar with live entertainment and Catwoman's Rogue’s Gallery, where you eat under reproductions of world-famous stolen famous art. Old Gotham City is a speakeasy style cocktail bar and there's also the elegant Pennyworth’s, named after Batman’s butler, Alfred.
Park Row's Executive Chef is Kim Woodward, formerly of 100 Wardour and Savoy Grill, while Karl O’Dell of Michelin-starred Texture heads up The Monarch Theatre. Head of Pastry is Leyre Pedrazuela Otera, a one time 'Bake Off: The Professionals' contestant. Whether or not any of these three are also crimefighting renegades remains to be seen.
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