ODEON to open fine-dining cinema with waiter service
The Lounge by ODEON will serve three-course meals, fine wine and cocktails prepared by professional chefs and bartenders.
Gourmet hot dogs, battered fish and chips, dim sum, and ice cream soda will replace the traditional popcorn and sweets and be served to cinema-goers during the film.
The 22,000 sq.ft cinema will include six boutique screening rooms with up to 40 reclining leather seats offering double the leg room of a normal cinema.
Duncan Reynolds, managing director of ODEON UK & Ireland said: “The Lounge at Islington Square will provide the most innovative and luxurious experience available in cinema today, in one of London’s most sought after locations.
“This is a luxurious way of enjoying exciting new films with friends and family, and is the perfect way to make a visit to the cinema extra special, offering all our guests the opportunity to relax and enjoy fine food and drinks in an exclusive environment.”
The Lounge has been developed by Sager Group and will open as part of the £400m mixed-use Islington Square development later this year.
The 4.5 acre Covent Garden style-centre will provide 263 new homes and 108 serviced apartments alongside 170,000 sq.ft of restaurants, cafes and leisure facilities.
ODEON opened the first of its Lounge cinemas at Whiteleys shopping centre in 2012, with former Le Café Anglais chef-patron Rowley Leigh creating a menu of squid fritters and fillet steak hamburgers.
“We have been thrilled with the success of the first Lounge at Whiteleys – and are using what we’ve learned there to create an even more innovative high quality experience at the new Lounge at Islington Square,” said Reynolds.
The fitting out of the new cinema will begin in early 2017, with the Lounge opening its doors in late 2017.
