Following on from my article last April regarding the planing application submission for a DC Universe Immersive restaurant, things are now moving on. Coming to London in spring this year, Park Row will be the world’s first DC immersive restaurant.
The name, ‘Park Row’ comes from the area of Gotham City where the arch enemies of Batman reside. Love it!
The venue will be part of an Art Deco building on Brewer Street in Soho. At 18,000 square feet we know that this is gonna be of some size. To be fair, and as you’ll see below, it needs plenty of room.
On Entry…
As you enter the venue, the experience starts as you walk through a section that will be akin to the Batcave. Will there be a better entrance to any restaurant? I think not. From here, you have the choice of five restaurants and three bars.
The Dining Experience…
We all know Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred. Well, one of the experiences on offer will be called ‘Pennyworth’s’. This will have a study/library type atmosphere and will serve up, rather unsurprisingly, a tradition British menu.
There’s also ‘Old Gotham City’, a villainous kinda place where you can be served the most nefarious of cocktails. You’ll also find Sushi on offer as you enter the an area that pay tribute to the wonderful Harley Quinn. ‘The Monarch Theatre’ will treat people to a tasting menu along with the opportunity to watch immersive content inspired by the DC Universe.
Most impressively though is an area that will be called the ‘Iceberg Lounge‘. Quite clearly this area will pay tribute to Penguin. Not only will you find an international menu here but it will also offer live entertainment. Furthermore, and you’ll see from the concept art below, the attention to detail will be quite incredible. A penguin ice sculpture will take pride of place at the centre of a circular bar. Please also note the miniature models of umbrellas that hide lights in the middle of marble tables. So, so cool.
Before going any further, I feel it must be said that this is not going to be your typical themed restaurant. That is something that the partner in this venture want to stay away from. This will be an immersive experience, a world away from a themed restaurant. No dressing up as your favourite characters to eat here; this will be actively discouraged. However, it is said that they will hold regular private cosplay evenings.
In conjunction with…
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, DC and Wonderland Restaurants have all partnered together to bring fans this ultimate experience. James Bulmer, the founder of Wonderland Restaurants certainly has experience and has been a success over the years. Not only has he had senior roles at Disney but he also had a role in The Fat Duck restaurant. Oh, for info, The Fat Duck is a Michelin three-star restaurant, so we know that apart form the experience you get, the food quality is going to be top notch.
It doesn’t stop there, Mr Bulmer will also have help from his father who edited the Michelin guide to Great Britain. If that’s not enough, Claudio Cardoso will rum the kitchen. He is the chief executive of the successful restaurant group Sushisamba. No scrimping here also as the innovation director will be Mark Gaston, another who has had success with The Fat Duck.
The food on offer, it has been said, will be surreal enough that it will easily fit within the world of The Batman.
It doesn’t stop here though. Wonderland Restaurants have also employed a magician called Chris Cox. Mr Cox has had great success working on the stage show, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, also run by Warner Bros. I keep saying it but this is top quality all the way through.
Thanks to the current success of the DC movies, Warner Bros, along with Wonderland Restaurants and DC, see this as an ideal opportunity to cement their status as ‘a force in themed entertainment’. Obviously, London is a logical location but wouldn’t it be great if something like this could come further up North?
Thoughts…
Personally, I think this is quite incredible. Not only does it speak to me as a DC Comics fan, but as someone who works in a planning department. The Batman universe opens itself up to this sort of style. The Art Deco style of the building will still be there for all to see and the design of the restaurants and bars will be respectful to that. I think that Park Row will look incredible and will have many, many visitors, DC fans or not.
No doubt that this will be a massive success and I seriously hope that I get the opportunity to attend at some point. I have no doubt that all our readers are going to be interested in this and we would love to hear your thoughts. Please get in touch below or on our socials.
I am hoping there will be more to follow very soon on this, so please keep an eye on the site.
Finally, you can sign up for updates at the Park Row website here.
