The Unique Food Spot That Brings The Experience Of Film To Your Plate

Dinner and a movie might be the most cliché of date activities, but it's a good one. Even if it's just with family or pals, the duo makes for a solid evening out. Fork n' Film certainly thinks so, and this unique company has come up with a novel way to combine dinner and a movie. 

Basically, dinner is served while guests enjoy a film — so how is this different from the modern cineplexes where you can reserve your seat, order food and drinks, and have your cheeseburger and fries served directly to you? For starters, the ambiance is better, as is the food, and the venues are rather small, compared to a packed theater, anyway. Multiple courses from a pre-set menu are beautifully plated and served, as are cocktails or mocktails, with each event being completely different since the meals are tailored to the movie shown.

Fork n' Film describes itself as an immersive dining experience, one in which the dishes arrive at strategic points of the film you're watching. For example, during the company's first event, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was the featured film. During the scene where Hagrid presents Harry with a homemade pink birthday cake, a miniature version was presented to guests at their tables. There were 10 courses overall, and, of course, butterbeer was served. 

Fork n' Film hosted its first event in April 2023 in Los Angeles, with the aforementioned "Harry Potter" movie. Since then, it has expanded to New York City and London, with events in New Orleans also in the works. The founders, Nick Houston and Francesca Duncan, are neither chefs nor restaurateurs; they're just a couple of people who love food and film and wanted to combine the two into a unique event. The concept was an immediate hit, and the duo found that tickets were selling out almost as soon as they were available for purchase. 

The events are pop-up style, meaning that the specific venue locations often change. Guests who purchase tickets are notified of the location a few days before the event, and the menu mostly remains under wraps, although Fork n' Film has posted snippets of its upcoming menus on social media.

During a showing of "Home Alone" in 2023, guests were served macaroni and cheese (remember Kevin McCallister's "highly nutritious, microwaveable macaroni and cheese dinner" that he never got to eat?), a small pizza presented in a box that looks uncannily like those from Little Nero's in the film, and shrimp cocktail, which was inspired by the scene when Uncle Frank passes around a platter of the same while the family is in Paris. In general, if you're familiar with an event's film, you'll have an idea of what's coming, but the interpretation is entirely up to the chefs.

The prices for each Fork n' Film event are undoubtedly higher than your average dinner-and-a-movie date, so you might want to wait to reserve seats until at least date number three (assuming you really like the person), if you're the one treating. Tickets range anywhere from $199 to $299 per person in the U.S. and include a table for your group, the movie, and a multi-course menu, plus beverages. Only around 30 people are admitted per showing, so it's definitely less crowded than a movie theater on a Saturday night. You can also choose from three menus: Classic, Vegetarian, or Vegan. Each dish is a wonder to behold and exudes high-end dining vibes, making the steep price appropriate.

What's interesting is that not all of the chosen films revolve around food. For example, movies ranging from "Bridesmaids" to "The Little Mermaid" to "Soul Food" were shown in 2024. Sure, "Soul Food" was bound to include some iterations of the amazing dishes featured in the 1997 movie, like fried fish, peach cobbler, and maybe clove-studded ham, but something like "The Little Mermaid” is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps Ursula's tentacles made an appearance; let's just hope Sebastian wasn't on the menu.