By Colin Mixson Previews are finally over!
Nitehawk Cinema opened the
doors of its long-awaited Park
Slope multiplex on Wednesday, following
a more than two-year renovation
project. The new 650-seat, seven-screen
theater features digital projectors and
three 35mm reel-to-reel projectors —
including machines formerly owned
by auteur Martin Scorsese and media
mogul Rupert Murdoch — and is more
than three times the size of Nitehawk’s
flagship Williamsburg cinema.
Nitehawk Prospect Park — as owner
Matthew Viragh has branded it — will
host screenings of both blockbuster and
art-house flicks, in addition to showing
reruns of Hollywood and foreign
classics as part of its Signature Series
program. One of the largest theaters also
features a wide stage that will be used
for lectures and other live performances,
according to a spokesman.
The “dine-in” movie house also
offers table-side food and beverage service.
The menu, designed by executive
chef Blessing Schuman-Strange,
features entrees such as the signature
Nitehawk Burger, along with snacks
including tater tots and homemade beef
jerky, and artisanal popcorn served with
truffle butter and citric salt. The cinema
has also introduced a “Dine and Dash”
option for those who purchase their
tickets with a credit card — anything
ordered during the film is automatically
charged to the card, so movie-goers will
not have to wait for the check.
The theater also hosts two full bars
for ticket holders to visit before or after
the films, or for barflies more interested
in catching a buzz than a blockbuster.
The 1928-built Sanders Theater
served Park Slope as the neighborhood’s
only movie house until 1978, then sat
largely empty until 1995, when the cinema
reopened as the infamously dumpy
Pavilion Theater, which was rumored to
contain bedbugs during it later years.
Developer Hidrock Properties got
city approval to convert the historic theater
into a condominiums in 2015, but
later abandoned its plans, and Viragh
snagged the lease from investors, who
purchased the property for a cool $28
million in 2016.
Then he began a massive, gut-renovation
of the historic theater. The more
than two-year renovation project proved
a massive challenge, said Viragh, and
saw workers contending with “rats the
size of dogs” at a theater that had clearly
seen better days.
“It was like a hoarder had lived here
for 50 years,” he recalled.
Viragh had originally hoped to open
the Park Slope cinema earlier this year,
but credits a months-long delay to the
discovery of walled-over architectural
Movie buff: Nitehawk Cinema owner Matthew Viraugh in the new Park Slope movie house’s
194-seat theater. Photo by Trey Pentecost
elements, including a third-floor mezzanine
overlooking Brooklyn’s Backyard.
At the end of the day, whether
the name “Sanders,” “Pavilion,” or
“Nitehawk” graces the theater’s marquee,
the old Prospect Park West movie
house was built to last, said Viragh, who
hopes to serve Park Slopers booze and
COURIER L 50 IFE, DEC. 21-27, 2018 24-7
blockbusters for many years to come.
“It’s a really great building,” he said.
“It’s got great bones.”
Nitehawk Prospect Park (188 Prospect
Park West at 14th Street in Park Slope,
nitehawkcinema.com/prospectpark).
Open daily at 3 pm. Tickets $13 ($10
seniors and children).
Tasty noodle: Popular noodle restaurant Ramen Danbo
opened in Park Slope on Dec. 10. Photo by Colin Mixson
Noodle news
By Colin Mixson Park Slope has a sister slurp city!
An international purveyor of ramen
noodles has chosen Park Slope as its first
outpost in the eastern United States, because it
reminds the owners of a “cozy” yoga-obsessed
town in Vancouver, according to the eatery’s
manager.
“Our first Vancouver location was also
like Park Slope,” said Yota Ishizaki, manager
of Ramen Danbo, which opened on Seventh
Avenue between St. Johns and Lincoln places
on Dec. 10. “We wanted to try a more cozy
neighborhood rather than Manhattan.”
The Vancouver neighborhood, called
Kitsilano, is a beachside enclave formerly
regarded as the “Haight-Ashbury” of Canada
due to the large population of long-haired hippies
who settled there during the 1960s, according
to the town’s official tourism website .
And like Park Slope, the seaside Vancouver
town has faced rising property values, as the
area attracted a large community of “young
urban professionals” and families, the town’s
tourist website says.
And — perhaps most Park Slope of all —
Kitsilano is completely bonkers for the exercises
of the east. The town features numerous
yoga-wear shops and yoga studios along its
main drag, and is the birthplace of global yoga
brand Lululemon, which has two retail outposts
in Brooklyn.
If Park Slopers take to Ramen Danbo like
the Kitslianos did, locals can expect some competition
for the roughly 30 seats at the small
Japanese soul-food restaurant, according to
Vancouver food and culture magazine Scout,
which wrote that the only thing not to like about
the restaurant is “ how damn popular it is .”
The restaurant offers a simple menu featuring
four variations of ramen noodle, starting
with either a tonkotsu pork-broth or a vegetable
base. Diners can then customize their meal by
choosing from a wide variety of options, including
noodle thickness and firmness and level of
spice, as well as selecting from traditional toppings,
including soft-boiled eggs, seaweed, and
pork belly, among others.
Grab some tasty noodles at Ramen Danbo 52
Seventh Ave. between St. Johns and Lincoln places
in Park Slope, (718) 783–0150, www.ramendanbo.
com. Open daily, 11 am –11 pm.
MOVIE REVIVAL
Nitehawk opens in former Pavilion theater
Ramen chain opens a
branch in Park Slope
Rooms with a view: Nitehawk’s seven theaters vary in size from a 54-seat screening room to
an auditorium with almost 200 seats. Sakeenah Saleem
A nightcap at Nitehawk: The new theater in Park Slope offers Old Fashioned cocktails on draft, along
with local beers, cider, and wine. Photo by Trey Pentecost
/www.ramendanbo