A month and a half after Blind Tiger restaurant left 7376 Manchester Road, at the corner of Manchester and Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood planning and zoning approved a restaurant/dinner theater use for the space.
At the Monday meeting the commission heard plans for a restaurant to be open for lunch and dinner, with an ‘Alaska-themed’ menu. The proprietor also said the food will be reasonably-priced and unpretentious, with nothing over $20.
A dinner theater would be offered for three weeks approximately every three or four months.
Dinner for a show is planed to be a 5-course meal themed around the show. For example, for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, planned for next December, the menu will be London-based, with items that pertain to lyrics in the show.
Admission will include show and meal, but there will also be space for non-show dining. Theater and a 5-course dinner will be around $55. The owner said he is in talks with a chef that recently graduated from L’École Culinaire.
City Manager Marty Corcoran said he wanted a no-nudity stipulation for the theater.
The owner graduated from Webster University with a film degree, and currently manages a Clayton restaurant. He said he’s been in the restaurant business 29 years. He plans on leaving his current job when the city approves the plan.
Planning and zoning OK’d the proposal 5-0. It will go to city council on Nov. 11 and Dec. 9.
Corcoran told the commission to expect to meet in December.
Challenging location; seems like the owner has guts and vision and a creative spirit! All the best to him–
Yikes, an Alaska themed dinner theatre, I give it 6 months tops.
Why so negative? I think it’s nice that someone is trying something different. As Phyllis has already expressed, it is a difficult location, to be sure. We should be hoping our new businesses will succeed, not guessing on when their failure will occur.
Best of luck to the unnamed chef.
Recent grad, I am very skeptical, working for years in the industry,I have yet to meet someone of talent come from of the for profit colleges.
Sounds interesting, but unfortunately I am already skeptical. How does a business with a dinner theater tag line stay open with shows only a few times a year? I might have a different sense if I felt the food was going to be a bigger highlight or point of emphasis. Hope the new chef surprises me.
Degree from Webster in film, 29 years in the restaurant biz, manager of a place in Clayton… How many men fitting that description are running around? Seems like you’ve already narrowed the owner down quite a bit to be worrying about jeopardizing his current position by naming him!
Good question. His name was left out so as not to jeopardize his current position.
So, who IS the owner?