Following their inaugural Rio-themed summer season, The Institute of Light – cinema, record store, restaurant, bar and bookshop based in London Fields – is welcoming in autumn with their new EUROPA programme. Curated by Secret Cinema’s Harry Ross, the season celebrates European cinema. The art-house screen is showing new releases like Things To Come, Captain Fantastic and Cafe Society, as well as classics like The Man Who Fell To Earth and Life To The Scaffold.
A single ticket will bag a retro airplane seat but it’s well worth upgrading to a very spacious two seater sofa, not least because you can enjoy the IOL’s cinedining option. To match the European theme of cinema, the kitchen is hosting Helio’s Cantina, which dishes out a rustic Mediterranean menu from chef Helio Fenerich. Whether you opt for small plates like creamy burrata and artichokes, and crispy vegetable and sage fritti, or you go all out with three courses, there’s still something exciting about eating in front of the big screen, especially when the food is so good and the cinema is so inviting. It’s comfortable and intimate without feeling small, and aside from the occasional rumble of trains overhead, you really do forget you’re in a railway arch in Hackney.
[URIS id=74282]Weds – Sun, until Sunday 9th October 2016
Arch 376, 10 Helmsley Place, London, E8 3SB
www.the-institute-of-light.com