Nominated for Best Dinner Theater by Best of LA TV

See The Gourmet Detective on Best of LA TV and cast your vote! 

The following feature, by Lesley-Anne North, appeared in The Guide of the Press Enterprise, July 17, 2009

My little girl was having a sleepover at her grandma’s house last weekend so my fiancé and I planned a date night. Instead of dinner and a movie, we went for dinner and a murder and headed for The Gourmet Detective, which is an interactive dinner theatre. We had gone to The Gourmet Detective before, nearly two years ago when the show was new to Riverside and I was curious to see how much we would enjoy it the second time around. I won’t keep you in suspense… we had such a great time that we’re still talking about it a week later.

The show has gotten better with age and the cast runs the place like a well oiled machine. We arrived, were shown to our seats, and the fun began immediately, as we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery. The suspects are all around you, serving you dinner, gossiping about who they think is the murderer, and performing musical numbers from time to time. Piano accompaniment compliments the atmosphere as the story unfolds. It’s very classy…very Bogart.

The murder mystery suspense is spiked with fierce comedy. I laughed so hard that I was brought to tears on several instances throughout the evening. One suspect flirted with my fiancé so much that his face turned red. At one point a detective stormed in to the room asking what all the commotion was and an audience member sheepishly replied “next door,” which sent the detective searching into what was a closet. We fed off of each others laughter and it was fantastic. The more involved we became in the show, the more outrageous it was. Between acts, we were served a delicious dinner. Guests have their choice of Slow Roasted Tri Tip, Pan Seared Chicken Breast, Grilled Atlantic Salmon or a Vegetarian Mexican meal You’ll also enjoy a fresh salad and a slice of cheesecake with your meal. While we dined, our table would talk about who we thought was the murderer and we’d bounce theories off of each other. However when the time came to wager a guess the woman across from me laughed and said “I’m usually pretty good at these things but I have no idea!” The murderer was revealed while I sipped on coffee. It was a bitter sweet finale because we truly didn’t want it to end.

The Gourmet Detective is a great night out and a perfect escape from the daily grind...and a great way to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. What takes their show from “good” to “extraordinary,” is that they allow the audience to dictate how much they want to be involved. You can be like the man across the row from us, who sat back and laughed but didn’t engage the performers. Or you can be like me, who got pulled up alongside the actors to re-enact a possible ending based on my ridiculous guess at “Whodunit?” Whatever your style, to loosely paraphrase a line from one of the musical numbers: “So you’re a saint, so you’re a sinner, either way you’ll still get dinner.”

The following feature, by Leslie Anne North, appeared in The Guide of the Press Enterprise, November 16, 2007

The Gourmet Detective is a very welcome addition to Riverside. The interactive dinner theatre puts you smack dab in the middle of the action. You show up for your dinner reservations and find that “the charming, relaxed ambiance of the Café Noir is a little off tonight. It seems the proprietor was found dead this morning, floating face down in the bay.”

From that moment on, you’re guests at the Café Noir, and the murder suspects are the same people that are serving you dinner. That cast and staff were amazing and guided us through the entire experience.

Craig Wilson, one of the producers of the show said via email that at The Gourmet Detective, they “take all the risk out of the evening and leave it up to the audience member to dictate how much they want to interact; we never put anyone on the spot.” That means that if you’re a “sit back and enjoy the show” kind of guy, you can do just that. Alternatively you could be like my niece Sabrina…’I THINK YOOOOOUUU DID IT,” she exclaimed, defiantly pointing her fork at our server, and then they engaged in some witty banter that would make even Stan Lee proud. It’s apparent that the cast members are a talented ensemble, friendly as can be, and masters of improvisation.

My family is a sucker for a good show, and The Gourmet Detective had it all…drama, comedy, mystery, and even a few musical numbers. We enjoyed the live piano accompaniment, which helped set the mood not only while we were dining, but during the show as well. And come on, if you see a “gorgeous dame” dressed in 1940’s style, and a pianist is available to accompany her…I think there’s a rule hat she has to sing.

Dinner was great as well. Our table went from debating “whodunit?” to silence as we focused our attention on our entrees. We each had our choice of steak, chicken, fish, enchiladas or a vegetarian option as each of us loved our dinner so much that we were a non-stop chorus of “OH MY GOSH you have to try this mixed with a little ‘Mmmmm…this…is…SO good!”

This is a phenomenal way to spend an evening. Beautiful environment, fantastic food, a talented cast and crew…you won’t be disappointed, whether or not you figure out the ending. When it comes to a well-rounded evening of dinner and fun, The Gourmet Detective is guilty as charged.

The following feature, by Margaret Wappler, appeared in in the Weekend Calendar of the LA Times, March 15, 2007

L.A.'s Killer Theater
There's an edgy breed of dinner theater on the menu, if you don't mind a little murder with your meal.

This is dinner theater, reinvented. The vision of cold, dark places with over-emotive actors in crooked wigs and circles of rouge has been replaced with quick, clever productions that increasingly rely on the formula of the murder mystery. Most invite crowd participation, where else can you be accused of a heinous crime over dessert? And, yes, the performers are generally real people with day jobs involving things like hard drives and research reports, but there's something cathartic about the proximity of audience to actor.

Traditional dinner theater is still out there, but for now we flitted about the Southland with one question: Whodunit?

A Selection of the Best Southland Scene -- The Gourmet Detective

Mellow and nostalgic, it emphasizes '20s-themed entertainment with its 'Bullets Over Broadway'-style show. "Darling, You Slay Me," is a 1920s throwback that uses the play-within-a-play convention. While the audience dines, characters with names such as Dick March and April June swish around with cigarette holders, pouring stiff drinks, accusing one another in growls and purrs and invoking healthy doses of bawdy-but-PG humor.

Perfect alibi, Patti Francisco as the femme fatale in "Darling You Slay Me" Photo by Ricardo DeAratanha, Los Angeles Times

The following article, by Lisa Berghouse, appeared in the Calendar Channel of OrangeCoastMagazine.com

It's A Mystery
Murder takes place in the lower bowels of the Newport Gateway Towers every Friday and Saturday night in the original Gourmet Detective production of "Darling,You Slay Me." The Mezzanine at the Towers is transformed into a 1928 restaurant where the cast acts out a murder mystery while also serving a three-course meal.

The restaurant takes the identity of Lardi's, a take-off of the famous Sardi's in New York City, where anyone who was anyone came to see and to be seen. "Darling, You Slay Me" is an interactive play about the opening night party of the dreadful, three-blocks-off-Broadway musical "He Rang the Bell." As the cast serves the food in character, members of the audience may ask questions to help unravel the mystery. Guests are encouraged to interact with the actors to learn more clues as to "who dunnit?"

Written by Alyssa Canann and Tom Shelton, the story combines many 1920s stereotypes into a fun story about a flapper who is murdered. To a background of period music, the character everyone loves to hate hops around in a flapper dress singing ditties - that is, until she dies and every other character becomes a suspect with a motive.

Countless references to old film and theater stars are made. The cast members pick out unsuspecting audience members and call them by such legendary names as Laurence Olivier or one of the three Barrymores. It is pure comedy and chaos.

Production manager and casting director Dave Casper trains the troupe to stay in character while doing simple tasks like pouring water and handing out rolls. The interaction works well. Many of the actors Casper picks for the show have received training at LA Improv or other improvisational companies.

The Gourmet Detective is a 10-year-old dinner theater company. Once called The Mystery Cafe, the company changed its name a few years ago to better market the dinner element of the show.

The Gourmet Detective features "Darling,You Slay Me" every Friday and Saturday night at the Mezzanine at the Towers restaurant, 19800 MacArthur Boulevard, Irvine.For reservation, call 866-99ALIBI, or go to www.gourmetdetective.com.

The following article, by Tom Titus, appeared in the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa Daily Pilot

Sleuths Are on the Case at The Gourmet Detective
If you grew up reading the murder mysteries featuring Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, you'll find the current attraction at Irvine's The Gourmet Detective particularly appetizing.

"Nancy Hardy and the Riddle of the Sphinx" (also titled, "Your Dinner or Your Life") is the latest laugh-packed whodunnit from the fiendishly creative folks who brought you "Murder at the Cafe Noir," "Abracadavar" and "Death Under Cover." The show has just settled in for an indefinite run on weekends at Irvine's Mezzanine Restaurant.

Locally created - authors Alyssa Canann and Tom Shelton reside in Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach, respectively- this show contains all the vital elements that have distinguished The Gourmet Detective in its first eight years.

First of all, it's the antithesis of Agatha Christie. No proper stiff-upper-lipping here. Director Bob May (who enacts three characters in the show) has encouraged his cast to serve up the ham, no matter what else is on the menu. The result is broad, outlandish comedy reminiscent of the earlier, better days of "Saturday Night Live" or the old "Carol Burnett Show."

Secondly, the audience becomes involved, though not so much in this show as in past productions. The actors are skilled in the art of improvisation and, at Saturday night's performance, even brought a fellow critic onstage to sing a jingle he'd written (the playgoers ostensibly are finalists in a soap company jingle contest).

May puts on a seminar in wackiness as he enacts the crazed Nazi captain of a cruise ship up the Nile (circa 1938), a Marty Feldmanesque busboy who's really theexiled king of Chad and a Scotland Yard investigator with dossiers on all concerned.

The sleuthing young Nancy is winningly portrayed by Tracy Purdue with all the sweet spunkiness she can muster. Her doting father, with a past that catches up to him on the trip, is solidly done by Michael McKay.

A pair of consummate pros in the interactive theatre genre are Mignonne Profant as a seductive songstress and Lori Schneide as a sourpuss spinster. These two manage to steal whatever part of the show May hasn't already absconded with.

Profant enhances the evening's enjoyment with her femme fatale mannerisms and her torchy songs from atop the piano (played by Kevin Weed), while Schneide (who must have grown up watching Ruth Buzzi on "Laugh-In") is an absolute kick in her California debut (her character name, by the way, is the pseudonym used by the author of the Nancy Drew books).

Daniel Emmett as the gin-soaked wastrel playboy pulls out all the cliches to this familiar character but manages to remain sympathetic. Likewise, Tom Royer wrestles with caricature as a shady, mob-connected passenger and comes out the victor in this and two other assignments. Hardy Boys fans will recognize the first name of his last character, Fenton, as Frank and Joe Hardy's Dad. The show is well-paced, and the actors maintain character well as they break to serve the three course dinner. And, unlike past Gourmet Detective shows, you'll probably guess the murderer well in advance of the final curtain, which for serious armchair sleuths, may be the production's only weakness.

The following article, by Chris Trela, appeared in OC Metro

Mystery, Magic, Drama
One of the longest-running productions in Orange County has been the mystery dinner theater presented every weekend by The Gourmet Detective at the Mezzanine Restaurant in Irvine. The actual play changes every year or two ("Your Dinner or Your Life" is the current offering), but the dinner theater concept of presenting an interactive mystery play that roams throughout the restaurant as patrons dine and attempt to discover who dunit has been a long- standing hit.

Now, the Gourmet Detective has expanded to the Hilton Anaheim with a new production, "Mumm's the Word." A better title might be "Fun's the Word," because the show is an enjoyable - and tasty - two hours of mystery and mirth.

"Mumm's the Word" was first produced at The Mezzanine nearly eight years ago, but has since been re-written and revived. The new "Mumm's the Word" is the perfect play for a glitzy place like the Hilton. The play re-creates the atmosphere of a 1929 speakeasy (here called the Mumm's Club) inside one of the Hilton nightclubs.

The story is set the day after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which means that a handful of unsavory characters are wandering the club, as are local floozies, singers and assorted riff-raff. During the course of the evening, one of the characters is murdered. The audience's job: do some amateur sleuthing and attempt to guess who pulled the trigger.

While there are a few dramatic moments, the evening is played for laughs, with a couple of songs thrown in for good measure. The actors are accomplished at the fine art of improv, and interact well with the seated guests and each other.

Of course, when nearly half the cast (and director Patrick Gwaltney) are company members from Stages (one of the best independent theaters in the Southland), you know you're in for a treat.

Guests also have a treat with the Hilton food, which includes a choice of chicken marsala, grilled top sirloin, broiled salmon and pasta. A full bar and cocktail service are available.

For reservations or more information, call The Gourmet Detective at 866-99ALIBI. Tell 'em Mugsy sent ya.

The following article, by Christopher Trela, appeared in the Newport News

The Gourmet Detective
There is dinner theater, and then there is The Gourmet Detective, which belongs in a class by itself. These folks have been presenting comedy-mystery dinner theater at The Mezzanine Restaurant in Irvine for several years, but their current production, "Murder at the Cafe Noir;" is the best yet.

The fun starts the moment you enter the restaurant, renamed Cafe Noir for the evening. Actors greet you in character and immediately transport you to the Island of Mustique, circa 1940. Seems that one Andre Gauvreau, owner of Cafe Noir and a powerful man on the island, was shot to death.

Who dunnit?

Many had their reasons: Anthony Laszio Cairo, a local low-life; Sheila Wonderly, an intimate friend of the deceased; Vince Thursby, another local low-life; Angelique Toureau, co-owner of Cafe Noir; Simon Gutterman, a martini-toting lawyer; Maria LaRue, a voodoo woman; and several others. into this scenario strolls Rick Archer (or "Just Plain Rick"), a down on his luck American who acts and talks like Humphrey Bogart, one of the greatest noir-genre actors.

How does this all tie together? Amazingly, the plot makes sense, more so than previous Gourmet Detective shows. And there is an abundance of humor strewn throughout the show, which takes place among the tables of the intimate Mezannine Restaurant. The actors - in character - chat with diners about clues while revealing their possible motives, and also act out segments of the play in the center of the restaurant. There are some very clever touches to "Murder at the Cafe Noir." Rick Archer happens to have the same last name as Bogart's partner in "The Maltese Falcon," a replica of the famed "black bird" is used as a set piece, and many characters are named after those in various Bogart movies (Cairo, Laszio, Thursby). Numerous other Boggie references add to the fun. The actors, who also serve as waiters (in character, of course), are a rotating band of local stage veterans who divide their time between The Gourmet Detective and other stages. Most nights you can find Steve Sturm ("Holiday" at the Vanguard Theatre) playing Rick Archer. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role because Sturm is so convincing, and like the rest of the cast, appears to be having a grand time sending up the noir genre.

The night I saw the show, Nicole Maringer ("Much Ado About Nothing" at Stages) was a beautifully convincing Sheila Wonderly; Patrick Munoz ("Don't Dress for Dinner," Laguna Playhouse) was a perfectly sleazy and drunken Simon Gutterman; Bob May ("A Child's Christmas in Wales," Laguna Playhouse) is a swarthy riot in the dual role of Thursby/VanGilder; Silvie Boggs (also the show's director) made a splendid voodoochanting Maria LaRue; and Ceptembre Anthony and Andy Pinon were ideal as Madame and Cairo, respectively. Kevin Weed provided very appropriate accompaniment on the piano. Performances of "Murder at the Cafe Noir" are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. The Gourmet Detective is indeed a tasty, satisfying theatrical treat. For more information, call (866) 992-5424.