Movies and food

When I first moved to Oregon, I happened to move right next door to a place called the Mission Theater. The Mission was started in the late 1980s by the McMenamin brothers who, as visionaries and smart business folk, could see how combining decent food (in lieu of popcorn and junk) with movies could be a brilliant move. It turned out that it was. The smart piece I think is that they sell decent food and beer with older movies which means their overhead and royalties for showing the movies are probably markedly less. Here it is:

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was started about 10 years after the McMenamin version in Austin, Texas and has since been franchised. Erin took me to a location in San Antonio for my birthday - hence the post. Similar idea except with recently released movies - not as cheap as the Mission which would cost like 5$ as I remember. But still good food: we had fried pickles, a burger with roasted chiles and a decent salad and a pitcher of beer in front of the Bourne Legacy. If you don't mind a little bustling when your neighbor's food arrives, it's a lovely combination... the only downside is that you don't get to talk to the person you're with over dinner...

Without further ado, the menu for the week! (cutting the descriptions a bit brief as I am doing the cooking from here on out I think so the need for exhaustive details for replication is less):

Beef and Broccoli: I think the key to a good stir fry is what to add so that it's not overcooked and all the ingredients are well cooked - easier said than done. Garlic, ginger and broccoli first, then mushrooms for a short bit followed by flank steak and the hoisin and spicy sauce and topped before serving with the green onions and cilantro, over rice.

Crab, Papaya, Serrano: We're gonna try something new: basically make a ceviche type dish out of the crab with serrano, peppers, some lime, cilantro, onion and then scoop out a papaya and serve the crab mix in the papaya... should be a nice contrast

Kale and Cabbage Salad with Walnut: It almost sounds gross, especially as everything is going to be raw except the roasted walnuts. But I'm gonna make it work with a nice rice vinegar dresssing.

Orange habanero chicken with sweet potato and salad: marinade as it sounds, sweet potatoes in the oven without spice to contrast the chicken and salad to cool off.

That's all folks! I learned that okra is not an appropriate baby food this week... after I made a boatload of it mixed with ham. It's so sticky that he literally takes it out of his mouth and rubs it on his chest out of interest/disgust. It's kind of awesome and kind of sad and disappointing all at the same time.