At a time when movie theaters nationwide are struggling to get audiences off their couches, Pruneyard Cinemas in Campbell has hit upon unexpected success with its Culinary Cinema series. Audiences are packing the theater’s auditoriums to see classic movies — from “Legally Blonde” to “Seven Samurai” — paired with three-course dinners.
“I think people have really missed that experience of seeing these older movies together in a theater, and then when you link it up with food, it adds a whole new level of fun,” Pruneyard Cinemas co-owner Jack NyBlom said.
The menu for Pruneyard Cinemas’ Aug. 25, 2025 screening of “Mean Girls,” part of its Culinary Cinema program that pairs classic movies with three-course dinners, included items with names riffing on the movie like You Go Glen Coco Coconut Shrimp, Army of Skanks Chicken Alfredo and Kalteen Bars. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Serving food in the theater with a movie is hardly a new concept, but what sets Culinary Cinema apart is the work of chefs Trevor Hansen and Nicko Moulinos, and mixologist Jacqueline Aguirre. The chefs design menus that take their lead from the movies, maybe recreating a dish featured in the film or putting a spin on an entree or appetizer that lines up with a location or character. (Expect a lot of pink on the plate for “Legally Blonde.”)
Aguirre comes up with a specialty cocktail that does the same. For last Monday’s screening of 2004’s “Mean Girls,” that was the You Go Glen Coco-Tini, a tiki-style drink with coconut cream named after a minor character in the film who became a meme sensation. Hansen’s menu also included Glen Coco-nut Shrimp.
The audience enjoys the pre-show entertainment before Pruneyard Cinemas’ screening of “Mean Girls,” part of its Culinary Cinema program that pairs classic movies with three-course dinners, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025 at the Pruneyard in Campbell. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
“Creating the menus is fun, and the customers enjoy it,” Hansen said. “If I’m doing ‘Mean Girls’ for example, I’m working with the colors, which are a lot of pink and yellow, high school, women and obviously food that’s in the movie. I’ll take all that information and then I’ll do what I’m going to do.”
When the series started in 2019, it was a monthly event that focused on movies centered around food such as “Chef,” “Eat Drink Man Woman” and “Big Night.” But when that well started to run dry, NyBlom and business partner Peter Liebow tested the waters to see if people would come to a movie that wasn’t about food: “The Godfather.”
It turns out, they’d made audiences an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Related Articles
Street mural unveiling kicks off SV Pride weekend in downtown San Jose
Silicon Valley Pride celebrating 50 years in downtown San Jose this weekend
Lowriders will be hopping at San Jose City Hall plaza this weekend
Retired San Jose firefighter Sam Seibert turns 106: ‘The years have been good to me’
San Jose schools’ new buildings provide lessons in history
The series has gotten so popular — most movies either sell out or come close, even at a $69.50 ticket price (not counting drinks) — that there are now screenings on Monday and Wednesday nights, which are traditionally the slower nights for movie theaters. The chefs come out before the movie to talk about the menu, and there’s usually trivia with gift cards as prizes. The series has drawn a lot of regulars, who dutifully fill out online surveys with requests for future movies.
NyBlom says audience requests are part of the mix when he and Liebow work on the lineup for the season. “Peter’s as much a movie geek as I am, so we have a lot of fun coming up with the movies,” NyBlom said. “But we take in what the audience responds to and also what movies are right for the season.”
They also have a couple of ongoing series that have been popular with fans. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” the fourth movie in that series, shows Monday, and Sean Connery’s fifth James Bond movie, “You Only Live Twice,” is coming up in September. Not surprisingly, October will feature a lot of horror movies, including “Psycho,” “The Lost Boys” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”
And yes, there will a creative nod on the menu to Hannibal Lecter’s classic line, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”
STREET SCENE: The Alameda in San Jose has really become a retail and restaurant gem for San Jose in recent years, and you can look for that to get even better now that about 400 property owners along “The Beautiful Way” have created a Community Benefit Improvement District.
After a process that took two years to complete, they’ll be contributing $327,000 annually for the next 15 years — a fund that’ll be managed by the Alameda Business Association — to provide upgrades above and beyond what the city does for the historic boulevard, a major thoroughfare for San Jose for more than 200 years.
Luna Mexican Kitchen owner Jo Lerma-Lopez talks about her neighboring businesses on The Alameda in San Jose during a launch for a new Community Benefit Improvement District in the neighborhood on Aug. 28, 2025. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
The stretch is home to Luna Mexican Kitchen, Zona Rosa, Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center, Crema coffee, Recycle Bookstore and Hop & Vine, where the Alameda Business Association and city officials held a launch event Thursday.
“When you think about The Alameda, it has such great history,” San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, who also led the charge for a CBID in Willow Glen in 2009. “The CBID allows these businesses to control their future.”
DISCOVER READING: One of the best sounds in the world? Somebody reading to a child. And you’ll be able to hear a lot of that Sept. 6 at Kristi Yamaguchi’s Family Literacy Festival at the Children’s Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose.
Entertainment will include children’s performer Andy Z, magician Dream Top, and the Ricky Roo & Friends Puppet Show. There also will be celebrity readers on hand including BayFC co-owner and soccer legend Brandi Chastain, Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, which makes sense as her Always Dream Foundation is partnering with CDM and the San Jose Public Library Foundation on the event.
It runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and you can purchase tickets for $20 each at sjplf.org.
STILL COOKIN’ AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: I paid a visit to the landmark restaurant Chef Chu’s in Los Altos on Monday to catch up with Lina Broydo, the longtime public relations director of San Jose’s Fairmont Hotel (back when it was the Fairmont Hotel). Of course, owner Lawrence Chu made his rounds of the tables during lunch, chatting with customers.
The restaurant, which opened in 1970, is very much a family affair, with Chu’s son, Larry Jr., managing, and his daughter Christina also working there. His youngest son, “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu, opted for a nonculinary career, but does write about growing up around Chef Chu’s in his 2024 memoir, “Viewfinder.”
Lawrence Chu is still in the kitchen every day but Tuesday (when the restaurant is closed), but he’s leaves the cooking to others now. “I’m more of a coach now,” Chu said. “But I’m there to make sure everything is done the same way. Consistency is very important.”