Strolling down the hallway into the dining room, Walk of Fame stars decorated the ground, banners draped the walls reading "Party with the Stars" and tables stood layered in gold glitter, candles, an action clapperboard and movie reels.
No, this wasn't a Hollywood awards night after-party; it was "An Affair to Remember," the classic movie-based theme dinner hosted on Oct. 18 by the School of Hospitality Management at Café Laura in 101A Mateer. It will be reenacted at Café Laura on Nov. 15 for those who missed out.
A handful of nights each semester, Penn State's HRIM 430 class presents themed dinners at Café Laura.
The class gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a "live-action environment" that gives them practical experience for future careers as hospitality managers.
The HRIM 430 students, who have some guidance from instructors, are mainly responsible for successfully planning, marketing, preparing and serving their customers.
Paul Howard, a HRIM 430 instructor, said the course is the "most rigorous" class in the program.
"Our students are recruited by almost every restaurant company in the U.S., and they love the program and love the fact that our students have to go through real world management experience where all kinds of things can go wrong," he said.
"An Affair to Remember" offered dishes named after famous and classic movies and was based on the film An Affair to Remember, a love story starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr that was nominated for four Academy Awards.
Howard said students picked out the marketable theme to base the dinner on during the first week of classes.
"It had really nothing to do with the food, which is always tougher because the students had to tie together the food with a play on words," he said.
The appetizers, entrees and desserts on the menu were all conveniently planned after names of movies.
An American in Paris, the six-time Oscar winning 1952 love story war film starring Gene Kelly, was the basis for the bacon-wrapped prawns with a Grey Poupon sauce as an appetizer.
The broiled and stuffed jalapeno peppers were based off of the Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon comedy, Some Like it Hot, which won three Golden Globes.
"The Great Escape" entrée -- an apple cider-braised pork loin -- was based after the 1943 film based on the true story of a maximum security prisoner-of-war camp.
A pecan-encrusted chicken stuffed with Brie and rosemary was another entrée option inspired by the 1968 thriller Rosemary's Baby.
African Queen, starring Hollywood classics Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, was the premise for the fresh tilapia fillet in a honey lime sauce entrée, and the suspenseful 1959 North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was the basis for the 10-oz. strip steak.
Aside from movie-based food, the actual dining room was decorated in a manner to set the ambience of the theme.
With movie reel film strips wrapped around the pillar columns of the café and posters hung in the windows of classic films as the Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany's, King Kong and Gone with the Wind, Laura set an affectionate atmosphere for a romantic evening between couples and warm conversation for friends.
One waiter even dimmed the lights over the table, claiming he wanted to "set the mood better" for surrounding patrons.
Miniature "movie buff" golden award statues were set on each table and reflected the glow of dimming candle light, and bustling waiters walked around to each table with BYO wine in buckets of ice as they asked customers how everything was so far.
Servers seemed to be eager to know how customers felt about the evening they set up, and they even handed out surveys at the end of the dinner to get feedback on what they needed to improve on.
"It was our first meal of the semester, which had its good moments and its rocky moments," Howard said.
"It was a complete sellout with 126 guests, so it added a lot of challenges, pressures and stress for the students with the overall serving and seating of the customers, but it's a great experience for them," Howard added.
Other themed dinners the class is hosting this semester are a "Getaway" to Southern Italy, Sin City Sensations -- The Las Vegas Strip, and a New York State of Mind.
Howard said Laura tries to keep its prices reasonable as well as competitive with more upscale downtown restaurants.
All of the dinners are served a la carte and include complimentary salad and bread.
Appetizers range from $3 to $6; entrees are priced between $12 and $21 and desserts from $2 to $5.
Customers who are 21 years of age or older can bring no more than one bottle of wine per two people or two 12-ounce bottles of beer per person.
