For about two weeks now my boyfriend has been telling me “I have a surprise for you Sunday…dress fancy & eat lunch”.  I drove myself crazy wondering which restaurant he would be taking me to.  I knew it was food – and I knew it wouldn’t be Applebees.  Correction – I was hoping it wasn’t Applebees.  Sunday finally arrived and the moment of truth was nearing.  We pulled into a fancy strip mall and my curiosity grew even bigger.  It was a fancy outdoor mall that I had passed all the time – what did I miss?  Tucked way in the back of the mall was this amazing gem – The Gold Class Cinema.  He had sent me a link a month ago to show me this fancy movie theater but I never imagined I would be going anytime soon.

Right when you enter there’s a huge lobby filled with fancy seating and fireplaces on both ends and a very colorful bar ahead.  We were greeted by very nicely dressed ‘cashiers’ (im sure they have a fancier name) who were NOT wearing bow ties and suit coats!  I have always felt bad for regular movie theater workers having to wear bow ties.  The usual movie theaters are not bow tie worthy! But this was – and they weren’t even wearing them.  I’m not complaining – I wouldn’t wish a bow tie on anybody I was just making an observation.  Anyway, back on topic here – we were an hour early so we sat down in the lobby and enjoyed some drinks and an appetizer.  I have a severe citrus fruit allergy so picking the appetizer wasn’t the easiest thing to do.  I had asked the waitress if someone had lemon – she went back to ask if it did.  She came back explaining that there was lemon juice in one of the three items that were a part of the appetizer.  I sighed but picked the next item.  I asked again if it had lemon – again she explained “ill go ask!”.  To my surprise she brought the Executive Chef out.  I felt a little guilty disrupting him – I just needed to know what items were lemon free! He was helpful and friendly though and it was nice that he took the extra time to answer my questions.  We decided on the Chinois Chicken Salad Wraps.  It was like a very large spring roll.  Chicken, lettuce, radicchio, combined with some sesame oil wrapped in rice paper.  They served a nice stack of chow mein noodles on the side.  It was very delicious and definitely not something I would have expected to be eating at a movie theater.

After our appetizer was ordered we were informed by our waitress (yes! we had our own little waitress to follow us around the theater!) that our theater was ready and we can go get cozy.  This was not like any other theater I have seen.  I was in awe of the large comfy recliners in front of the big screen.  Every two seats had its own dining table.  Along the sides of the theater it was two-seaters, down the middle there were four-seaters.  In all there were only about 36 seats.

Before the movie started we were able to order our main dishes and desserts.  For dinner I ordered a Farfalle Pasta.  It was farfalle pasta with broccoli and portabello mushrooms dressed in truffle oil topped with shaved Parmesan.  I had some trouble settling on dessert but I figured since i’ve been trying to watch my calories (ha!) I would order the Strawberry Angel Bowl – it was described as fresh strawberries on top of angel food cake topped with marscapone cream.  The pasta was very good but nothing to brag about. Now – this is where I may get out of hand here but stay with me on this one.  You know when people say that you don’t know true love until you hold your first child?  I don’t think I knew true love until I tasted this dessert.  I really wish I could have taken a picture of this marvelous creation.  It was dark so it was hard for me to even examine it.  The first thing that stood out were these very large triangular garnishes.  I bit into one and it was wafer-like and crispy and sweet.  I tried my hardest to examine what it could be.  It was so delicious I knew that I would have to re-create it at home.  I have come to the conclusion that it was numerous layers of phyllo dough brushed with honey and coated in sugar – it was TASTY!  Once I got beyond the garnish I came across something I had assumed was another garnish.  It appeared to be a crouton.  I bit into it and realized that it was the angel food cake!  They turned the angel food cake into a crouton, topped with strawberries and then covered in marscapone cream.  I don’t feel I can ever love a dessert as much as I loved this one.  It was pure genius and I would like another one please.

There aren’t very many Gold Class Cinemas out there, but I highly recommend that if you click the link and notice there it one near you – GO! It was a great experience and a fair price for what it is.  I had a great time and can’t wait to go back.  Oh yeah – I saw the movie Salt.  It wasn’t bad – the food was the real show.