From the Surreal Minds Behind Absinthe Comes a ’70s-Style Disco-Adjacent Diner
In just a few weeks, the circus purveyor Spiegelworld will debut its new rollicking, wackadoo disco-themed show. And tonight, August 14, it opens the doors to its next-door restaurant — a ’70s-era New York-style diner with malted shakes, orange-handled flatware, and a surprising menu that features the likes of yellowtail tartare and confetti funnel cakes.
The Discoshow show debuts on September 7. Spiegelworld’s executive culinary director Anna Altieri needed an adjacent restaurant that could fit in the Discoshow universe — not a disco diner, but a comfy malt shop that someone could conceivably wander into following last call at the discotheque. Where Discoshow will be all things drag, eccentricity, and acrobatics, Diner Ross is surprisingly understated with classic records on the walls, decade-specific ephemera, inventive new cocktails behind the bar, and food that veers away from expected diner fare — take the burger, which is ground steakhouse-style, coated in black pepper, and layered with salty aioli and roasted cherries on a challah bun, primed to be dunked in a peppery au poivre gravy.
Spiegelworld, the company behind outlandish circus shows Absinthe, Atomic Saloon, and the now-shuttered OPM, has delved into the restaurant space before with the Superfrico supper club, its adjacent mountain-themed Ski Lodge bar, and Absinthe’s No Pants, which serves a smash burger far too good for a concession stand.
Diner Ross serves a crock of macaroni and cheese made French onion-style with savory jus and caramelized onion slivers amid the gruyere cheese pulls. Dinner rolls are replaced by eggy popovers with butter and jam or plussed-up accoutrement like foie gras and caviar. (“They’re a whimsical food I grew up eating with my grandmother,” says Altieri.) A yellowtail tartare is bright with yuzu and mustard. Steelhead trout is deftly cooked with capers, lemon, and rice pilaf. And the fries can be ordered “disco-style” — with cheese, gravy, and caramelized onions. As for cocktails, there are the classics, like an electric orange wallbanger. A fizzy Champagne colada is creamy and coconutty. And the bar makes a canned Midori sour with basil and strawberries. Dessert is what Altieri describes as “childlike but not childish” with chocolate malt shakes served with the tin, crunchy funnel cakes pocked with rainbow sprinkles and topped with ice cream, and a rice pudding with generous slices of fresh mango.
The name, Diner Ross, is a clever one — both a passable pun for Diana Ross and a sneaky nod to Spiegelworld creator, Ross Mollison. The diner is one of three total venues accompanying the theater. Whether entering from Las Vegas Boulevard or from inside the Linq, visitors will first walk through 99 Prince, a bar themed as a seedy New York subway stop with cocktails made behind the newspaper counter. Hint: pick up the phone in the telephone booth, look to your left, and smile. Upstairs, the Glitterloft is equal parts house party bar and staging area for theatergoers and reservation holders.
Tickets for Discoshow are on sale now and Diner Ross opens Wednesday, August 14. Tickets are not required to visit the diner. Both venues are open Wednesday through Sunday.
