Veteran London chef Rowley Leigh has teamed up with cinema operator Odeon to consult on the food offer at its new boutique cinema, the Lounge, at Whiteleys shopping centre.
Leigh, who also runs his restaurant, Le Café Anglais, at the west London-based Whiteleys, will develop the menu for the Lounge, which will open in January. It will comprise a five-screen cinema each with a maximum of 50 reclining leather seats.
While no details on the menu have been finalised yet, he will create dishes offering a "playful yet grown-up" take on classic film food. Each seat will have a call button, allowing customers to order directly from their seats.
Leigh said: "This is an exciting project in so many ways. By taking my food to the movies, I am just doing what I have sought to do all my professional life, which is to take gastronomy to an ever wider and younger audience, and cinema is a perfect vehicle for this vision."
Rupert Gavin, CEO of Odeon and UCI Cinemas, added: "Through the offer of restaurant-quality food and drink direct to your seat and a wide variety of the latest films in an intimate setting, we're appealing to the discerning film fan looking for an evening of first-class entertainment."
Leigh opened Le Café Anglais in 2008, having previously been chef-proprietor of London's Kensington Place for 20 years.
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By Kerstin Kühn
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