Central Cinema

We visited Central Cinema for the first time earlier this month, when we went for the Aaina film festival. We got there around 6:00pm for the 7:00pm show - way too early. Being early birds, however, meant that we got very easy parking on 21st street, only a few yards down from the cinema.

Central has table seating in the front hall, which is like a regular restaurant with friendly wait staff and a full, interesting menu. The cinema hall, which is like a cosy playhouse, has sofa-style booth seating with built-in tables, and they continue to take orders and serve you while you are watching the movie, so no pushing through hordes at the concession stands. The table reminded me somewhat of my grade school, and I almost expected to have my khaki schoolbag at my elbow. Happily, though, I stirred myself back to the lively Aaina crowd, and the food that the Central lady had just placed on our table!

The Bolivian coffee, served in small French presses, was fresh, aromatic, and full-bodied. The creme brulee was nice, but a bit too rich for our taste. We also had a tasty eggplant sandwich with fresh bread, and a side of crisp and strikingly fresh baby spinach leaves dressed in olive oil. They also serve beer and wine.

Central reminds us of our beloved Madstone Theater. We haven't had coffee like Madstone anywhere, and we watched some of the best movies ever at Madstone (except for Gerry - we are still waiting for our money back from Matt Damon, and comp for the 100 minutes we will never get back) . Madstone's demise left us with a hole in our heart, and we are happy to discover Central in the Seattle area, our new home. A look at their recent screenings gives us good reason to want to make repeated visits in the coming weeks.

A very nice place to have good food and drink, and watch eclectic and thoughtprovoking cinema that is hard to find in, say, Bellevue's Lincoln Square?