A planet with tonnes of atmosphere is about to officially crash-land in the capital, and the stars will be out in force tomorrow night to welcome Planet Hollywood to Dublin.
The cinema-inspired restaurant joins a host of other eating experiences in the city. Eateries with names that leave little to the imagination - The All Sports Cafe, The ThunderRoad Cafe, Strike 4 and Break for the Border - have sprung up all over Dublin. They cater for a new breed of diner. The trainer-sporting, mobile-phone-waving offspring of the Celtic Tiger. With the advent of Planet Hollywood these cubs now have another place to feed.
And they're feeding in packs. In the first week of opening, Planet Hollywood, on St Stephen's Green, beside another thematic gastrodome, The Chicago Pizza Pie Factory, was visited by some 7,000 customers. Each spent an average £14 a head, a turnover for just one week of £100,000. And with tomorrow night's grand opening due to be attended by a galaxy of stars, turnover looks likely to go into further orbit.
Good news for Ossie Kilkenny, the accountant to the stars who has a stake in the Dublin restaurant along with partners Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and Whoopi Goldberg. The chain was started in New York by restaurateur Robert Earl and film producer Keith Barish in October 1991. There are already more than 60 outlets worldwide.
After less than three weeks in operation, Planet Hollywood, Dublin, where 160 people are employed, is the busiest restaurant in the capital. On entering, customers are greeted by a man wearing a radio mike who could double for a president's bodyguard.
He takes your name and you are given a "quote time". This is the time it will take to secure a table. The average wait is 35 minutes. At busy times a wait of more than an hour is normal. This wait takes place nearby, in a space-age circular lounge.
Inside are three themed dining areas. On the first floor is the Sky Room, an area smothered with the restaurant's trademark movie memorabilia. Mounted all over Planet Hollywood are items like the bicycle Liam Neeson rode in Michael Collins, a Terminator costume and the garb once worn by one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Star Wars robots stare out at passers-by from the window. It's a veritable shrine to all things Hollywood. Then there are the ubiquitous movie screens which play cleverly choreographed clips from movies while carefully chosen tunes blast out from speakers.
Walk down a flight of stairs and you are in the Zebra Room. Cardboard cut-outs of the restaurant owners and other movie stars occupy one wall. A separate sound-proofed VIP area looks like something from Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
Everyone in Planet Hollywood is staring at the screens, chatting loudly and munching standard American fare. They are here for the night. Music, food, alcohol, cinema. A total assault on the senses and all under one roof.
"It's all about good food at affordable prices. It's about having fun," says general manager Mr Paul Kavanagh, attempting to explain the attraction of themed restaurants such as Planet Hollywood. "Of course, you have the famous faces and the memorabilia, but the food has to be right, too."
Constantly buzzing around Planet Hollywood is a curious breed of waiting staff (sorry, servers). They actually appear to be enjoying themselves. At the merchandise stand - you can purchase a Planet Hollywood everything - two girls sing along noisily to the blaring rock music. Attractive male staff walk by and say: "Hi, how are you?"
Downstairs two young female servers jog around in unison laughing inanely at their jolly antics.
The secret, according to Mr Kavanagh, is the training the staff get. "We put them in a classroom scenario for three weeks to train them. Everyone likes to be directed," he says. Then there are the twice-daily pre-shift motivating meetings. "Our theory is that if the staff aren't enjoying themselves the customers won't either."
`LUNCH is now an experience, like seeing a road accident, losing your virginity or the weather forecast," said a prominent restaurant critic recently.
The phenomenon of themed restaurants, where eating is an experience, where the diner demands to be entertained, is summed up in more positive terms by the general manager of another such emporium.
"People want to go and stay in the one place all night. They want atmosphere. The food is obviously important but the experience is also high on their list of priorities," says Mr Paul Hynes, of the "hugely successful" ThunderRoad Cafe in Temple Bar. Their theme is Harley Davidsons and rock music. Staff regularly dance on the tables to entertain customers.
Across the road in the self-explanatory All Sports Cafe, Mr Gavin Comiskey says the popularity of such places means they have become a victim of their own success. Here sports fans can watch events live on big screens or peruse the impressive collection of sports memorabilia on show. "The volume of business we are doing is incredible. We are booked out until Christmas and it means there are only so many customers that can be accommodated."
In Strike Four, in Parnell Street, the theme is American Sports. Themed restaurants make for perfect family outings, says restaurant manager Ms Jill Moore. "Mum, dad and the children can be entertained. We offer that little bit more," she says.
Ms Moore is not threatened by Planet Hollywood having entered the market. "You can overdo that whole American thing. It's a tad OTT."
But, as the folk at Planet Hollywood might say, that's eatertainment.
Planet Hollywood opens officially tomorrow when Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Gerard Depardieu, Wesley Snipes, Mike Myers, William Baldwin, Bob Geldof, Jason McAteer, Phil Babb and Brenda Fricker will entertain anyone interested in coming to the St Stephen's Green restaurant from 7 p.m. on for a tasteful, low-key ceremony