Latest news with #Bridgerton-inspired
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Bite into the plot: How movies are stirring up the menus
Once confined to screens, cinematic storytelling has now spilled over into our plates and glasses. Across India and beyond, restaurants and cafés are embracing the trend of OTT-inspired dining — crafting immersive menus that blur the lines between food and film. Whether it's a glitter-dusted mocktail echoing Disney's Encanto (2021 )or a tasting menu that channels the spirit of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), this isn't just about themed meals — it's about eating emotions, tasting plotlines and sipping cinematic nostalgia. The phenomenon gained traction earlier this year when Netflix launched Netflix Bites at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (USA). On the menu? Squid Game-style snacks and Bridgerton-inspired brunches. It wasn't long before restaurants around the world followed suit. Viewers didn't just want to binge-watch anymore but also binge-eat their favourite shows. As Josh Simon, Vice President of Consumer Products at Netflix, puts it: 'Fans don't just want merch anymore. They want experiences.' This genre of dining goes beyond clever names. A dish isn't just tasty — it's dramatic, poetic, even bittersweet. Menus read like screenplays; a salad might serve as the emotional reset of Act Two. The goal? To evoke the narrative through taste. At EnCanto, a Gurugram café named after the 2021 Disney film, food becomes pure sensory magic. 'OTT shows are no longer something we just binge,' says director Tusheeta Khanna, adding, 'They're part of our emotional vocabulary.' Their star drink, the Casita Cooler — a shimmering mocktail of coconut water, pineapple, and passionfruit — is designed to feel like stepping inside the film's enchanted house of the same name. In Bengaluru, ParTTwo channels the essence of Endless Summer (1966), a surf documentary that celebrates eternal sunshine and travel. Chef Karan Upmanyu crafts dishes like the Wai-Wai Salad, a grown-up spin on the beloved Nepali snack. With cold shrimp, pomelo, crispy noodles, and cabbage, it captures both nostalgia and freshness. 'Summer is about joy, boldness, and friendships,' he says. 'That's what we've tried to plate.' Seasonal ingredients like mango and pumpkin get unexpected, playful treatments — culinary nods to carefree memories and sun-drenched wanderlust. Taking the idea even further, Sunset Cinema Club and The Piano Man group in Delhi teamed up to create a night where films and food come together in a full-blown sensory celebration. Arjun Sagar Gupta from The Piano Man says, 'This initiative lets us take storytelling to a new level with curated menus and drinks.' Their first pick, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, feels just right. With its vibrant Spanish setting and emotionally charged travel narrative, the film offered plenty to work with. Chef Manoj designed a Spanish-inspired tasting menu with cocktails named after the film's characters to match its mood and key scenes. 'All the dishes are linked to specific moments in the film,' explains Sahil. 'The menu features churros con patatas, bruschettas, hearty stews, and tapas-style bites, along with table snacks like truffle popcorn. Each one is designed to echo a scene or emotion from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.' At Taste Cinemas — with locations across India — the cinematic dining experience is literal. Their recent Twilight-inspired event featured a nine-course menu, from blood-red shots to edible baseballs, recreating the film's love story bite by bite.
Powys County Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Ireland and UK take to the stage during second Eurovision semi-final
Ireland and the UK have performed in the second semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. British group Remember Monday harmonised their song What The Hell Just Happened? with Bridgerton-inspired outfits, and are already through to the grand final in Basel, Switzerland, as 'one of the big five'. Their performance kicked off with Lauren Byrne in the middle as they moved in synch with a collapsed chandelier on stage, calling back to a line in their song. Her along with Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, strutted down the stage, and looked for camera angles to showcase the dramatic moments in the song, before ending in a group hug. Thursday's second semi-final marks the first time in Basel that UK audiences at home can vote under Eurovision rules. Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen is hoping on Thursday to get to Ireland through to the next stage with Laika Party, which imagines the Soviet space dog as alive, despite its tragic end. In a silvery outfit, she danced on a small stage as below the singer, her keyboardist brother Erlend Kristiansen moved only his arm to the beat of the song. She ended saying 'thank you so much', as the crowd cheered. The 24-year-old hopes to replicate Bambie Thug, who at Malmo 2024 was the first Irish entrant to make the final since Ryan O'Shaughnessy in Lisbon in 2018. Before Remember Monday was Australia's Go-Jo (Marty Zambotto) with the tongue-in-cheek Milkshake Man and Austria's JJ (Johannes Pietsch), who is among the competition favourites with song Wasted Love. Appearing to echo 1960s TV advertisements, Go-Jo started with a segment promoting a blender, before going into a cubicle to transform into a blue sparkly jumpsuit, which saw a part of it dramatically taken off. Later, JJ opted for a black and white staging, which looked like a disastrous boat trip as he sang about someone they cared about being overwhelmed. Also putting in a good show was Maltese singer Miriana Conte, who went full diva with Serving, and Czechia representative Adonxs with the punchy Kiss Kiss Goodbye. Meanwhile, Luxembourger Laura Thorn was posed like a doll by her dancers while she belted La Poupee Monte Le Son and had a costume change mid-song to reveal a new outfit. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's semi-final performance of New Day Will Rise did not see the same 'disruption' as an early rehearsal on Thursday. Prior to the evening show, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organising the event, said six people, including a family, obstructed the October 7 survivor's performance with 'oversized flags and whistles' and were subsequently escorted out of the venue. A spokeswoman said organisers are 'neutral, safe, inclusive and respectful environment at the ESC', while videos on social media appear to show a large Palestinian flag being waved at the singer near the stage.
Rhyl Journal
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Ireland and UK take to the stage during second Eurovision semi-final
British group Remember Monday harmonised their song What The Hell Just Happened? with Bridgerton-inspired outfits, and are already through to the grand final in Basel, Switzerland, as 'one of the big five'. Their performance kicked off with Lauren Byrne in the middle as they moved in synch with a collapsed chandelier on stage, calling back to a line in their song. Her along with Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, strutted down the stage, and looked for camera angles to showcase the dramatic moments in the song, before ending in a group hug. Thursday's second semi-final marks the first time in Basel that UK audiences at home can vote under Eurovision rules. Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen is hoping on Thursday to get to Ireland through to the next stage with Laika Party, which imagines the Soviet space dog as alive, despite its tragic end. In a silvery outfit, she danced on a small stage as below the singer, her keyboardist brother Erlend Kristiansen moved only his arm to the beat of the song. She ended saying 'thank you so much', as the crowd cheered. The 24-year-old hopes to replicate Bambie Thug, who at Malmo 2024 was the first Irish entrant to make the final since Ryan O'Shaughnessy in Lisbon in 2018. Before Remember Monday was Australia's Go-Jo (Marty Zambotto) with the tongue-in-cheek Milkshake Man and Austria's JJ (Johannes Pietsch), who is among the competition favourites with song Wasted Love. Appearing to echo 1960s TV advertisements, Go-Jo started with a segment promoting a blender, before going into a cubicle to transform into a blue sparkly jumpsuit, which saw a part of it dramatically taken off. Later, JJ opted for a black and white staging, which looked like a disastrous boat trip as he sang about someone they cared about being overwhelmed. Also putting in a good show was Maltese singer Miriana Conte, who went full diva with Serving, and Czechia representative Adonxs with the punchy Kiss Kiss Goodbye. Meanwhile, Luxembourger Laura Thorn was posed like a doll by her dancers while she belted La Poupee Monte Le Son and had a costume change mid-song to reveal a new outfit. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's semi-final performance of New Day Will Rise did not see the same 'disruption' as an early rehearsal on Thursday. Prior to the evening show, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organising the event, said six people, including a family, obstructed the October 7 survivor's performance with 'oversized flags and whistles' and were subsequently escorted out of the venue. A spokeswoman said organisers are 'neutral, safe, inclusive and respectful environment at the ESC', while videos on social media appear to show a large Palestinian flag being waved at the singer near the stage. Last to perform was Finland's black leather-wearing Erika Vikman, who performed her song Ich komme.
Leader Live
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Ireland and UK take to the stage during second Eurovision semi-final
British group Remember Monday harmonised their song What The Hell Just Happened? with Bridgerton-inspired outfits, and are already through to the grand final in Basel, Switzerland, as 'one of the big five'. Their performance kicked off with Lauren Byrne in the middle as they moved in synch with a collapsed chandelier on stage, calling back to a line in their song. Her along with Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, strutted down the stage, and looked for camera angles to showcase the dramatic moments in the song, before ending in a group hug. Thursday's second semi-final marks the first time in Basel that UK audiences at home can vote under Eurovision rules. Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen is hoping on Thursday to get to Ireland through to the next stage with Laika Party, which imagines the Soviet space dog as alive, despite its tragic end. In a silvery outfit, she danced on a small stage as below the singer, her keyboardist brother Erlend Kristiansen moved only his arm to the beat of the song. She ended saying 'thank you so much', as the crowd cheered. The 24-year-old hopes to replicate Bambie Thug, who at Malmo 2024 was the first Irish entrant to make the final since Ryan O'Shaughnessy in Lisbon in 2018. Before Remember Monday was Australia's Go-Jo (Marty Zambotto) with the tongue-in-cheek Milkshake Man and Austria's JJ (Johannes Pietsch), who is among the competition favourites with song Wasted Love. Appearing to echo 1960s TV advertisements, Go-Jo started with a segment promoting a blender, before going into a cubicle to transform into a blue sparkly jumpsuit, which saw a part of it dramatically taken off. Later, JJ opted for a black and white staging, which looked like a disastrous boat trip as he sang about someone they cared about being overwhelmed. Also putting in a good show was Maltese singer Miriana Conte, who went full diva with Serving, and Czechia representative Adonxs with the punchy Kiss Kiss Goodbye. Meanwhile, Luxembourger Laura Thorn was posed like a doll by her dancers while she belted La Poupee Monte Le Son and had a costume change mid-song to reveal a new outfit. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's semi-final performance of New Day Will Rise did not see the same 'disruption' as an early rehearsal on Thursday. Prior to the evening show, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organising the event, said six people, including a family, obstructed the October 7 survivor's performance with 'oversized flags and whistles' and were subsequently escorted out of the venue. A spokeswoman said organisers are 'neutral, safe, inclusive and respectful environment at the ESC', while videos on social media appear to show a large Palestinian flag being waved at the singer near the stage. Last to perform was Finland's black leather-wearing Erika Vikman, who performed her song Ich komme.
Glasgow Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Ireland and UK take to the stage during second Eurovision semi-final
British group Remember Monday harmonised their song What The Hell Just Happened? with Bridgerton-inspired outfits, and are already through to the grand final in Basel, Switzerland, as 'one of the big five'. Their performance kicked off with Lauren Byrne in the middle as they moved in synch with a collapsed chandelier on stage, calling back to a line in their song. Remember Monday from the United Kingdom (Martin Meissner/AP) Her along with Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, strutted down the stage, and looked for camera angles to showcase the dramatic moments in the song, before ending in a group hug. Thursday's second semi-final marks the first time in Basel that UK audiences at home can vote under Eurovision rules. Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen is hoping on Thursday to get to Ireland through to the next stage with Laika Party, which imagines the Soviet space dog as alive, despite its tragic end. In a silvery outfit, she danced on a small stage as below the singer, her keyboardist brother Erlend Kristiansen moved only his arm to the beat of the song. She ended saying 'thank you so much', as the crowd cheered. Go-Jo from Australia (Martin Meissner/AP) The 24-year-old hopes to replicate Bambie Thug, who at Malmo 2024 was the first Irish entrant to make the final since Ryan O'Shaughnessy in Lisbon in 2018. Before Remember Monday was Australia's Go-Jo (Marty Zambotto) with the tongue-in-cheek Milkshake Man and Austria's JJ (Johannes Pietsch), who is among the competition favourites with song Wasted Love. Appearing to echo 1960s TV advertisements, Go-Jo started with a segment promoting a blender, before going into a cubicle to transform into a blue sparkly jumpsuit, which saw a part of it dramatically taken off. Miriana Conte from Malta. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Later, JJ opted for a black and white staging, which looked like a disastrous boat trip as he sang about someone they cared about being overwhelmed. Also putting in a good show was Maltese singer Miriana Conte, who went full diva with Serving, and Czechia representative Adonxs with the punchy Kiss Kiss Goodbye. Meanwhile, Luxembourger Laura Thorn was posed like a doll by her dancers while she belted La Poupee Monte Le Son and had a costume change mid-song to reveal a new outfit. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's semi-final performance of New Day Will Rise did not see the same 'disruption' as an early rehearsal on Thursday. Israel's Yuval Raphael (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP) Prior to the evening show, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organising the event, said six people, including a family, obstructed the October 7 survivor's performance with 'oversized flags and whistles' and were subsequently escorted out of the venue. A spokeswoman said organisers are 'neutral, safe, inclusive and respectful environment at the ESC', while videos on social media appear to show a large Palestinian flag being waved at the singer near the stage. Last to perform was Finland's black leather-wearing Erika Vikman, who performed her song Ich komme.
