Three Embers Restaurant brings flavors of the theater with themed dining pop-ups

Three Embers Restaurant at the Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire is reimagining the “dinner and a show” concept, bringing flavors and decor inspired by the Marriott Theatre’s productions to their menu and dining space.

The restaurant is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the theater and hotel by hosting five themed dining pop-ups to coincide with each of the theater’s production this season.

The first pop-up, Joseph’s Dream Grill, launched Feb. 5 alongside “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

“We really wanted to tie the restaurant and the theater together thematically, both with the decor and the menu” said Brent Mulvey, director of food and beverage at the resort.

The first pop-up and show run through March 30, and will be followed by “Titanic: The Musical” starting April 9.

With “Joseph” being set in during biblical times, Mulvey said they wanted to incorporate Middle Eastern and North African flavors, as well as those of the Mediterranean coast to their wood-fired menu.

The restaurant team collaborated with the show’s producers to single out a couple of characters and songs to inspire specific dishes, like “Pharaoh’s Memphis Style BBQ Pizza,” “Benjamin’s Jamaican Roasted Ackee” and the “Hoedown Ribeye.”

“It was really fun to play with the menu,” Mulvey said. “And it’s given us a chance to do something a little bit different but still serve really great food.”

Other dishes inspired by the show’s setting and musical numbers include the hummus plate and falafel appetizers and the wood-fired shrimp Creole and grilled lamb entrées.

They also added the “Blue Dream Coat” cocktail, with vodka, peach schnapps, blue Curaçao and Sprite, to their drink menu.

A $49, three-course, prix fixe theater menu is also available, where guests can start with Nile red lentil soup, with herb oil and micro cilantro, then move on to entrées like Jacob’s beef shawarma, chicken shish tawook, sea bass sayadieh and the vegetarian koshari, Egypt’s national dish.

“We’re fortunate with the culinary talent that we have, there isn’t anything on the menu that isn’t great,” Mulvey said.

The “Joseph” inspired restaurant space is adorned with lanterns and fabrics mimicking the stage design. An oasis selfie spot provides a photo op for guests as they walk in.

Mulvey said the same company that works with set designers at the theater helped with the dining room.

“We’ve seen a lot of excitement from guests,” Mulvey said. “It’s something new and different.”

The rest of the season will feature pop-ups themed after “Titanic: The Musical,” the ’80s inspired “Always Something There …”, “Catch Me If You Can” and “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas.”

Planning for each subsequent pop-up takes place during the current show, then they have about a 10-day break to redesign the dining room before the next production starts.

Mulvey said they have a lot of history from which to draw for “Titanic.”

“We have a lot of data on the menus they served on the ship, so we can take and pull dishes off there and incorporate them our way, as well as other nods to London,” he said.

And even though it’s not featured in the musical, Mulvey promised a movie-inspired selfie spot similar to Rose and Jack’s scene on the bow of the ship.

The pop-ups are open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. during the run of the shows.

Mulvey said the restaurant staff has enjoyed the opportunity to mix things up a bit.

“We’ve always changed our menu five times a year to coincide with seasonality, so we get to keep bringing that into the restaurant, but now with the fun of tying in the theater,” Mulvey said.