A Taste of the Macabre...
and Really Good Food
by Janet Heller
Who-o-o-o-o likes the idea of being scared, amused, entertained, fascinated and fed -- all
in one place? The Jekkyl & Hyde Club, an exciting restaurant and interactive
entertainment center, does it all and offers it all on any day, not just All Hallow’s
Eve. The club is redefining the old Halloween maxim by offering its patrons both
‘tricks and treats,’ and it is also writing a new definition on how to run a
successful themed restaurant.
Usually when customers walk away from an eatery commenting, “That was a real horror
show,” it’s not meant as a compliment to their recent experience. But nothing is
as it appears at Jekyll & Hyde. Customers from this life (and perhaps some from
another life) have found the concept to meet or exceed all expectations, which involve
elements of horror along with “ghastronomic” delights. So if they say Jekyll
& Hyde is “spooky,” keep in mind that they probably had a pretty good time
there, maybe even “spooktacular.”
Visitors are warned upon entering that anything can happen during their visit. A prominent
clock over the entryway has stopped at one minute to midnight, leaving open to the
imagination a multitude of things that might transpire in rooms with suggestive names like
The Great Hall, Artifact Room, Conservatory, Armory, Observatory, Explorer’s Room,
Mausoleum, and Library. Inside these rooms, the club offers elements of horror, science
fiction and adventure, using a complete cast of actors, interactive special effects, and a
creative sense of fun.
Because real actors are used, the script is only suggested -- never pre-written -- and
changes every day. An encoffined corpse may offer a passing comment. Hydrolic bar stools
may lower, ever so slowly, in a paranormal prank. The lighting may flicker. Mad
scientists, haughty butlers, black widows, hunchbacked lab assistants, adventurous
explorers, and talking gargoyles all stalk the premises, bringing chills to and cheers
from all who enter.
But the cheers aren’t solely because of the chills. Eerie World Entertainment,
L.L.C., headquartered in Manhattan, is the force behind the Jekyll & Hyde concept, and
the company’s stated goal is to be the best restaurant-retail-entertainment company
in the world, providing creative and thrilling entertainment venues with high-quality food
and friendly service for people of all ages. And the company has put as much effort into
the menu and it has into the macabre.
| Eerie’s philosophy is that the quality and
service of the food is the first concern and the surroundings are really just icing on the
cake. In fact, Tim Gavigan, president and COO of Jekyll & Hyde, thinks that all themed
restaurants need to pay more attention to the thing that makes them a restaurant. “I think the themed restaurant business is getting the tar kicked out of it,” he says. “To some degree, we deserve it, because we haven’t created great brands, and what’s been lost is the fundamentals of a great restaurant experience, with great food and great service and a spotless environment, where you’re just happy to go there and have that experience.” |
Jekyll & Hyde design elements extend to
location |
Entree prices range from $7.95 to $17.95,
offering a choice for many palates and most pockets.Even though there is an emphasis on
quality, that doesn’t mean that the food isn’t fun. The menu is creative,
with “specialty drinks from the laboratory” including Lab Experiment No. 8213,
Gorey’s Demise, The Colonel’s Lemonade, Formula No. 1-11, Cannibal Caffeine, and
Mummy Mud. Kids can choose from The Creature’s Chicken Strips, Spaz’s Spaghetti,
Mr. Hyde’s Hamburger, Phyll’s Plain Pizza, Max Gorey’s Grilled Cheese, and
a Monster Sundae. Consequently, the menu at Jekyll & Hyde is substantial,
offering an extensive selection of appetizers, salads, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, and
entrees. |
For more discriminating tastes, there is an extensive menu of sophisticated offerings. Signature club dishes include The Creature’s Chicken-Corn Chowder, loaded with potatoes, bacon, sweet corn, and breast of chicken chunks; Spicy Shrimp Quesadilla, with roasted corn and black bean salsa; Grilled Portabello Salad, with sliced beefsteak tomatoes, mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette and baby greens; Minerva’s Favorite Penne, with Gulf shrimp tossed with broccoli, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and a dash of red pepper.
For the sweet tooth, delectable desserts top off
the menu by offering milk chocolate creme brulee, frozen cheesecake mousse sundae, warm
caramel-apple crisp, chocolate fudge and vanilla pyramid cake, and vanilla bean or Swiss
chocolate ice cream.
Just in case the intent isn’t evident, the back of the menu in each club contains the
following statement: “The Jekyll & Hyde Club is an exciting restaurant and
interactive entertainment center for the whole family with unique shopping in a bizarre
and unusual setting. Our goal is to provide our guests with a complete restaurant and
entertainment package. We’re passionate about delivering the highest level of quality
with everything we do. We hope that by providing you and your family with a great
restaurant experience, wonderful retail shopping, and outstanding entertainment, we will
inspire you to visit the Jekyll & Hyde Club again and again.”
Repeat visits are so common that Jekyll & Hyde offers club memberships. A Junior
Member pays dues of $5.95 to receive an official membership card, certificate, keychain,
magnet, and pencil set. An Esteemed Member, for $14.95, receives all the benefits of a
Junior Member, plus the choice of a beverage in a Jekyll & Hyde Club souvenir glass.
For $39.95, a Grand High Exalted Member gets all of the above, along with a Jekyll &
Hyde logo T-shirt, a $10 gift certificate, and a VIP pass, entitling a party of four to
immediate admittance to “scare control” and access to the first available
seating.
Another draw is the Bizarre Bazaar, where guests can acquire all kinds of eerie items. The
atmosphere is that of an old world village square with pushcart vendors and quaint shops
offering children’s and adult apparel, jewelry, collectibles, toys, books, games and
candy. The retail venue was designed by J. Newbold & Associates, who are responsible
for the design and theming of FAO Schwarz locations.
Eerie brought together a team of experts from the world of themes and the world of
business for the Jekyll & Hyde concept. CEO Warner Fite was an investment banker with
Merrill Lynch. Gavigan was formerly vice president of operations at Rainforest Cafe.
Jeffrey Rothenberg, formerly a vice president at FAO Schwarz, orchestrated the direction
and creation of the extensive Jekyll & Hyde Club merchandise offering and retail
concept. Steven Goodwin, corporate chef, has worked with California Cafe and Mars 2114.
And Michael Marte, construction manager, was also with Rainforest Cafe. Eerie has an
in-house creative team but has worked in conjunction with Karen Daroff of Daroff Design,
based in Philadelphia.
Jekyll & Hyde’s first location opened in 1995 at 1409 Avenue of the Americas in
New York. Features in the 27,500-sq.ft., two-story, 400-seat restaurant include the Grand
Salon, with high ceilings giving the feel of an English gentlemen’s club; however,
Tobias the werewolf and Zeus the bronze statue welcome guests to the club in order to give
the ‘proper’ impression. The Laboratory is a room for adventurous guests that
are daring enough to enter a dark, ominous laboratory with wet, drippy stone walls and
human experimentation going on. A two-headed monster and his mate, Malady Le Strange, help
patrons to explore amid skulls and beakers of brains. The Library, a chamber lined with
books on the secrets of the dark side, is a gathering place for visitors to envision
untried experiments. The Armory is another sanctuary of sorts, in which suits of armor,
weapons and exploration papers are displayed. The Bizarre Bazaar offers 1,500 sq.ft. of
retail space.
| A second club recently opened in the heart of
the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, with nearby neighbors including DisneyQuest and ESPN
Zone. This 27,000-sq.ft. venue is designed as a grand gothic mansion, offering a two-story
restaurant and “Social Club for Eccentric Explorers and Mad Scientists.” Like
the New York flagship, the Chicago club offers various rooms with different themes and
characters. A third location is due to open this fall at Grapevine Mills in Dallas, Texas. Like its predecessors, the 21,000-sq.ft., 410-seat restaurant will feature food, themed rooms, live actors and retail space. According to Fite, Eerie World Entertainment plans four new units in 2000 and 10 units total over the next two years. Future sites are planned to be smaller than existing locations, probably around 13,000 sq.ft., and the company is interested in super-regional malls. New units are planned to offer redesigned kitchen facilities, leading to a national menu expansion and food that continues to be so good, it’s scary. |
|
For more information, contact Eerie World Entertainment, L.L.C. Corporate Headquarters, 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10036; 212-944-5530.