Hong Kong Sundays at the Alamo, Austin (1/2)

When Tim and Karrie League opened the first Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in 1996 they had many great ideas. One of those great ideas was to have special nights for pairing movies with food, say, like showing a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western and serving all-you-can-eat spaghetti, or having cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon as a special during the screening of Blue Velvet. But the only themed movie-and-food pairing that goes on at the Alamo on a regular basis is the spectacular Hong Kong Sundays. The first Sunday of every month, martial arts aficionados can enjoy the best of Hong Kong's kung fu movies, paired with a special menu featuring Asian dishes prepared by the Alamo kitchen. The movies range from the weird, campy, and funny to the serious and even scary, but they are always highly entertaining, action-packed martial-arts feasts. This is a very popular event at the Alamo, even for those who are not declared fans of this type of filmmaking. The original menu was in large part designed by Karrie, who is a dedicated foodie. For Hong Kong Sundays, Karrie used some of her mother's traditional Chinese recipes, giving them the movie-inspired names that the Alamo is known for, like Salad of Legend, Wheels on Meals Pot Stickers, and Jackie Chan Chicken Lettuce Wraps. The only non-movie name on the menu was Momma Fong's Hot and Sour Soup, Karrie's mother's famous recipe, given to her by a Chinese celebrity chef in Karrie's hometown of Palo Alto, California. However, it had been consistently difficult for the kitchen staff to figure out how much food to make on any given Sunday, since the menu was special and used only once a month. If they prepared too much and too few people came, there could be a huge waste of food. If they misjudged the popularity of the movie and didn't make enough food, chances were they would run out. This was a problem that needed solving soon. One fateful afternoon, Karrie took Tim to lunch at Noodle-ism, just down the street from the downtown Drafthouse, where she often eats lunch during her workweek. After a couple of bites of food, Tim had an idea. "'We should have them do the food for Hong Kong Sundays,'" he told Karrie. The very next day, Karrie contacted Noodle-ism's chef owner Jeff Liu to see if he would be interested. To Karrie's relief and joy, he agreed, and they began working together to design a menu with items that would fit the Alamo format. "This is so exciting," Karrie explains. "We are going to be able to have first-rate food and avoid the problem of having too little or too much. And we know it will be consistently good." The plan is to start with a basic menu, and then have rotating and seasonal items. "We are also planning to show more Korean and Japanese films," says Karrie, "so we are excited to be able to have special menu items from those cuisines for the screenings." Chef Liu, well known for his innovative approach to Asian cuisine at both Noodle-ism and Bistro 88, adapts some of his favorite items from both of his restaurants so they can be eaten easily in the dark, while watching a movie. He also creates special items that will be served only at the Alamo's Hong Kong Sundays. A sample menu for Hong Kong Sundays features soup, a salad, a noodle dish, two vegetarian options, two entrées, and desserts. The tasty miso soup with soft tofu and scallions is simple, but flavorful and comforting. The peppercorn-crusted salmon salad is absolutely delicious. The salmon strips are coated with a mixture of coarse ground black peppercorns and finely chopped dried shiitake mushrooms, then pan-fried to perfection. The firm, crusty topping perfectly complements the moist salmon, which is then served with a yogurt-mint sauce and baby greens tossed in Chef Liu's signature honey-balsamic vinaigrette.