July 9, 2004

The Williamsburg: Dinner theater where food's a star

We often think of a restaurant meal as more than just food and service. Not for nothing do we speak of the "culinary arts." There is art to the design and preparation of the food, and an art to its presentation and to the ebb and flow of the meal so patrons feel welcome, comfortable, cared for.

Good table service plays a crucial role, and we often think of an evening in a restaurant as not just a meal, but as a theatrical performance, in which the charm and stagecraft of the wait staff shares the playbill with the artistry and skill of the kitchen.

If this makes sense to you, then we think you'll love The Williamsburg, the new dinner theater in what once was a multi-screen cinema in Acme. The June evening we enjoyed there over dinner and a show with a few friends was a very happy blend of culinary and performance art that left us not only well fed but also in a foot-tapping, tune-humming mood.

It's difficult, sometimes, to find new ways to write about restaurants, for there's a certain predictable sameness of menu-bread-wine-appetizer-salad-entrée-dessert-check-and-goodbye. But from the very first moment at The Williamsburg we knew the routine would be radically different and far more entertaining. For one thing, we had already ordered our meal, because they take orders when you call to reserve a table.

On our arrival, the staff greeted us by name, like old friends, and ushered us to the cocktail terrace. After our leisurely aperitif, servers came to introduce themselves and escort us to our tables in the night-clubby dining room. They seat us (again, by name) and took wine orders, and by the time they'd delivered our salad course, we were commenting on how energetic, attractive, intelligent and poised the entire staff seemed to be.

From appetizer through main course, our meal was much the same as at any good restaurant, with the welcome addition of soft but lively lounge tunes provided by the house musicians off in a far corner of the spacious room.

But hold the dessert! Following the main course came an entremets to be remembered -- an immensely lively show that really sets this place apart from the average restaurant. We suddenly discovered that our servers weren't just servers after all. Before our very eyes, the entire wait staff morphed into an unusually lively and talented song-and-dance cast. Directed and led by veteran performer Dominic Fortuna, they dazzled us with a high-energy revue of hits from the '50s, '60s and '70s. After the house lights went up for an intermission, back came the cast (slightly out of breath) with our dessert and coffee. Then they headed off for Act II, another round of hit-tune nostalgia that ended with an invitation to patrons to join them on the dance floor.  Everyone involved at The Williamsburg, it turns out, doubles in brass; one musician later told us that his first task when he gets to work in mid-afternoon is to help set tables.

The culinary mastermind behind this enterprise is Dan Kelly, whose name Northern Michigan food-lovers will recognize from Kelly's Roadhouse in Mapleton, D. J. Kelly's restaurant in Traverse City. Even his kitchen does double duty -- as the commissary for his banquet and catering business.

Thanks to Kelly, the "dinner" part of "dinner theater" is no second banana. This is not just a show that comes with food on the side. Kelly and his talented cast served us an outstanding meal, beginning to end. The menu is limited to four well-conceived choices, offered to patrons when they call to book. The lineup may vary slightly, but the choices we were offered were herb-crusted beef tenderloin, lobster-stuffed salmon, roast duck confit, or vegetarian lasagne.

In our group of eight, most ordered the tenderloin, which Kelly said later constitutes half his business, and all who had it declared it outstanding -- pink to perfection, plated with the freshest of asparagus spears and garlic mashed potatoes. The salmon came similarly plated but with a dulcet cream sauce. All diners also enjoyed fresh rolls and a greens-and-vinaigrette salad that was a lively and brightly executed as the show that followed. The rich, chocolate, mousse-cake dessert and raspberry sauce left us as breathless as the performers who so cheerfully delivered it.

To us, it's no less remarkable than the show that this entire evening -- dinner and show -- was a mere $43 ticket -- not much more than McDonald's and a movie. (Drinks, of course, are extra, as are the tips this charming, energetic, and entertaining wait staff works so hard to earn.)

While menu and show alike follow a script, we'll certainly want to return at least once for the same performance. Come autumn, according to Fortuna and Kelly, the menu and show will change with the season, giving us reason to go back yet again.

DATA: The Williamsburg Dinner Theater, M-72, Acme; 938-2181. Reservations required.