Some eateries have so much ambience that it overshadows the food. Tuxedoed waiters and crumb scrapers, Serengeti decor and wildebeest chops. Or, in the case of Castle Cinema, Sandra Bullock or Robert De Niro on the big screen while you dive into the Buffalo wings or rigatoni Bolognese.

When some local entrepreneurs, the Gemma brothers, bought the moribund Castle Cinema on Chalkstone Avenue, they figured the only way a second-run movie theater could make a profit was to feed as well as entertain. So the Castle Cinema Café opened ealier this year in the renovated place, with the kitchen also providing less ambitious fare for those who'd like to eat in the actual theaters.

We missed our 5:30 reservation, arriving too late to have dinner in the cafe and catch the 6:30 show of Gosford Park without having Tums instead of mints after the meal. We sure wished they started serving dinner at 5 p.m. The café looked like a pleasant place, with a full bar in a sunny space and a completely separate room to provide a meaningful non-smoking area. The menu there warrants the sort of attention that doesn't deserve distraction from car chases and explosions -- fancy appetizers, osso buco, and the like. The most expensive entrées are lobster saltimbocca and porterhouse steak, $20 each. Although you can blow $145 on a bottle of Dom if a James Bond retrospective triggers your expansive impulses.

The wine list, but not the café menu, is also available in the three theaters, upon request. One of our party, who found more interesting pastas on the cafe menu, tried her best, but after word from the kitchen, our server politely reiterated the house policy. If fellow moviegoers observe you ordering from the bound black café menu and whispers spread, the kitchen could be overwhelmed, if not marched on with torches. Plus, she added, the theaters aren't exactly the best atmosphere for fine dining, especially since the plates and cutlery are plastic, so the clanking won't obscure dialogue. Fair enough on both counts.

In the theaters you dine (or settle for popcorn) five abreast at long tables, sort of big, collective TV trays. The well-padded reclinable seats, on rollers, were made for Lincoln Town Cars. Circular battery-powered lights are available to alert the headphone-wearing waitstaff that you'd like a drink or a bite to eat.

One option is to assemble an array of appetizers ($5.50-$6.95). They are mostly bar fare, such as nachos and potato skins, but there's also a cheese-and-crackers platter. Or you can go straight to the desserts (all $5), including cannoli, mud pie, and tiramisu (a yummy version, we discovered).

Most moviegoers who want more than snacks will probably gravitate to the sandwiches ($6.95) and half-pound burgers ($5.95), which all come with beer-battered fries. The sandwiches, available as wraps or on torpedo rolls only, are mostly chicken variations, from teriyaki to Buffalo-wings style with blue cheese.

Our table of four started with one of the four mini-pizzas and a platter of calamari (both $6.50). The latter got a thumbs-up from calamari maven Marie, who is fussy about the stuff, one of her basic food groups. The squid was prepared traditional Rhode Island-style, a little greasy and with plenty of pepper rings. Delicious. My slice of chicken pizza was dense with mozzarella and white sauce, and the tastiness of the crust almost made up for it being proportionally too much for me. Johnnie doubted that the garlic was roasted, as advertised, very much, since it was biting hot rather than mellow.

Since we'd come looking forward to a real meal at the café, we all chose from the five pasta offerings ($8.50-$10.95). Succeeding best was the cheese tortellini, under its pink vodka sauce and flecks of tomato. It merged flavors well enough to not have been out of place atop a tablecloth, but perhaps its most appreciated virtue was that both servings of it were warm. The other two orders were nearly cold. The penne of both the chicken parmigiana and my eggplant rollentini was tasty, but nowhere near al dente. I did appreciate that my thin, breaded eggplant slices were fried to order and wrapped around seasoned ricotta filling. Perhaps if the plastic plates had been served on pre-heated regular dishes, temperature wouldn't have been a problem.

The next time I go to a movie hungry at the Castle Cinema -- and it was too much fun not to do it again -- I think I'll settle for just a sandwich, fries, a beer, and maybe dessert. And if the movie is a re-release of Tom Jones with its lubricious feasting scene, all the better. You can check the place out at www.castlecinema.com.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.

Issue Date: May 10 - 16, 2002