Karl O’Dell to head up multi-sensorial restaurant The Monarch Theatre

05-Jul-2021 - Last updated on 05-Jul-2021 at 11:34 GMT

Fully immersive DC-inspired multi-faceted restaurant and bar venue Park Row will launch on 10 August with Karl O’Dell, former head chef at Texture, and former Savoy Grill head chef Kim Woodward as its executive chefs.

Launching on Soho’s Brewer Street, the Grade II listed venue will house five restaurant and bar spaces that draw inspiration from some of the Batman comics' most famous characters, including The Penguin, Harley Quinn, The Joker, and Catwoman. Spaces will include The Monarch Theatre, described as a ‘unique, immersive multi-sensorial gastronomic experience’, and all-day brasserie Rogue’s Gallery alongside bars Pennyworth’s, Iceberg Lounge and Old Gotham City.

The Monarch Theatre will be an ambitious 20-seat restaurant serving an 11-course tasting menu with drinks for £195 per person. It will feature floor-to-ceiling screens and 360-degree projection mapping to enhance what owner Wonderland Restaurants says will be ‘carefully crafted staging and immersive courses that play with the senses’.

Dishes will include a ‘poisonous’ mushroom made from a parfait; a scallop, oyster, caviar and white chocolate dish topped with gold leaf; USDA Black Angus tenderloin with truffle; and edible jewellery.

O’Dell, former head chef at Texture, will be executive chef at The Monarch Theatre, with Woodward, formerly of 100 Wardour and the Savoy Grill as executive chef of Park Row. Leyre Pedrazuela, a previous Bake off: The Professionals contestant, will be the venue’s head pastry chef.

Diners will enter the basement venue through ‘an emotion-triggering mist’, into Pennyworth’s, a bar named after Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred. Alongside Pennyworth’s will be The Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge, that will have live entertainment throughout the week.

Rogue’s Gallery, meanwhile, will be a much more casual restaurant than The Monarch Theatre serving a modern European menu with an average spend of around £55 per person.

The final space will be speakeasy Old Gotham City serving cocktails and bar snacks.

The Monarch Theatre will take reservations Tuesday to Saturday, with three sittings per day: lunch, and then 5.30pm and 9pm for dinner. Park Row will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.

Park Row is being created in partnership with restaurant group Wonderland Restaurants and Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment on behalf of DC.