Special Events
Monster Bash - October 28, 2008
Special Events
Monster Bash - October 28, 2008
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If you haven’t made it to a Big Night Dinner at The Victorian yet, you’ve got another chance on Saturday, March 3rd, when chef Terry Parker once again pays tribute to the 1996 foodie favorite, Big Night. The Victorian recreates the mood, setting, and the eight-course menu from the movie, which tells the story of two Italian brothers who create a lavish dinner of authentic regional Italian dishes for the great bandleader, Louis Prima. Staff and guests are encouraged to dress in the 50’s era clothing worn in the movie. The Big Night dinner, which starts at 7:00 PM, will have John Carlson on the Baby Grand as you arrive, Tony D on the mandolin during dinner and a guest appearance by the Dean-O-Holics, Dean, Frank and Sammy, as well as dancing with The River City DJ. Costs $6o dollars and you bring your favorite libation, corkage fee free. Call 916.771.8585 for reservations.
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Primo is the purist cook. At one point in the movie he refuses to prepare an order of spaghetti for a customer who already has been served a beautifully prepared risotto. She already has "a starch," he says with contempt to his brother. |
Secondo, the maitre d' and certainly the more flexible of the two, begs him to reconsider and give the customer what she wants, but Primo refuses. The restaurant often closes early due to a lack of customers while the Italian restaurant across the street serving dishes more familiar to the American palate like spaghetti and meatballs thrives.
The film is really a love story about the two brothers, who argue and fight and hug. They think their entrepreneurial struggle is ended when Pascal, owner of the rival restaurant and a fan of Primo's authentic Italian cooking, offers to invite jazz musician Louis Prima to their place for a special meal. That sets the stage for the Big Night and production begins on the ultimate dinner.
One thing we do require... You have to see the movie. Otherwise you will think we are nuts.
This is a great event because you can tell that the staff is having as much fun as the guests.
The attraction is not so much the plot of the movie, (Louis Prima never shows up), but the meal course after course of magnificant dishes interspersed with wine, music, dancing and merriment.
Victorian's version of Big Night takes place annually the first Friday and Saturday of March.
The dinner, which lasts three times as long as the 107-minute movie, is produced from scratch by the Victorian kitchen staff.
Before the diners are treated to 4 hours of gustatorial pleasure, The Victorian kitchen staff of five spend about 30 hours in the kitchen preparing the food.
The 10 course menu, based mostly on a Northern Italian cuisine, features timpano as its centerpiece.
Timpano in Italian means kettledrum and the preparation is basically a casserole filled with sausage, pasta, meatballs, hard boiled eggs, cheese and sauteéd vegetables wrapped in pastry dough, shaped like a drum, and drizzled with tomato sauce.
The courses are full of soups, salads, pasta’s, shellfish, fish, risotto, chicken, the list goes on and on but of course the highlight is the tempano as in the movie.
Many courses throughout the evening are followed by either a song from Tony D and his musical partner on mandolin and accordian as well as a surprise visit from our own Dean Martin??? or music from the Big Night CD. Guests dance cheek-to-cheek to the Louie Prima tunes or form a Conga line, snaking around chairs and through the kitchen to "Mambo Italiano" by Rosemary Clooney.
(In the movie Louie Prima never shows, the two brothers get into a tussle on the beach only to go back to the restaurant and, in the emotional highlight of the film, end up hugging each other the next morning.)
We kind of skip over that part because the end of the movie is kind of melancholy.
