Seattle’s Cafe Nordo Goes National With Nordo Room Service (Review)

Like so many companies during the pandemic, Seattle’s Cafe Nordo pivoted. Nordo’s identity is wrapped up in their culinary chops, so bringing their particular brand of interactive theatre home could never be as simple as popping a few actors into some Zoom rooms and calling it a day.

Nordo was always going to have to go it’s own way, and what they’ve put together has a real shot at surviving the pivot back away from pandemic: Nordo Room Service — a collection of interactive plays that are paired with food. Nor are they restricted to their Seattle stomping grounds. The company has made arrangements to ship desert and mocktail-only versions of their kits around the country. (Seattle locals can add dinner cakes or pies to the mix… and I really, really shouldn’t have written this and researched the details while I’m hungry.)

The Witching Hour is a tongue-in-cheek ritual romp that ships with drinks and a themed Fairy Mine Pie: a particularly delightful gluten free Chocolate Chess affair. The drinks are incorporated into the playtime, while dessert is, well, dessert. The pie is an absolutely stellar offering, topped with big crystals of Himalayan pink salt and candy crystals that play off the dark chocolate notes exquisitely. I’ll admit that the mocktail didn’t float my boat, not because of the lack of booze, but due to the licorice palate of the mix. That’s never been my jam, and if the box had not been comped for review I might have been upset. A not insignificant part of the value is wrapped up in the drinks. The good news is that Nordo isn’t hiding what’s in the box, allowing your tastes in food, beverage, and theme to all come into consideration before booking. (No substitutions, however.)

Yet the real standout here is the ephemera.

Cafe Nordo’s Room Service team has built out a charming mythology across the puzzles, handouts, and videos that make up the narrative of The Witching Hour. A fun world of fairies and fears which is anchored well but the quality of the graphic design and other elements inside the box. While the tone is delightfully comic, the commitment to the bit is absolute. Co-Artistic Directors Erin Brindley and Terry Podgorski have adapted Nordo’s Witching Hour show into this video version, anchored by the exceptionally playful Ronnie Hill as William Westcott, Head Adept of the Society of Nocturnal Mysteries.

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There’s spoopy fun to be had that bears some resemblance to 90’s VCR game mischief. The puzzles aren’t exactly intense, but the design is actually deceptively clever and tuned to keep things moving for a date night or a small group of friends. The aforementioned ephemera lets those who want to dive a bit deeper into the mythology of the Society of Nocturnal Mysteries, and I’ll admit I found myself wishing I could visit their headquarters for another course some night.

A word to the wise: make sure to advance the video every time you are given the opportunity to do so — each “spell” (puzzle) has a bit of incidental music to accompany it, the page for which also holds links to hints if you need them.

As the next stage of the pandemic unfolds here in the United States, with venues spinning back up their in-person operations, it isn’t clear what will become of all the online/hybrid work. So much of it was made out of necessity — be that either of survival or that urge to create that fuels so many artists. Yet party games and escape games in a box existed long before lock-down, and the addition of treats to the formula is one of the few things I do hope we hold on to as we find ourselves in a New Normal.

Here’s hoping that Nordo’s Room Service sticks around.

The Witching Hour is available in both the Seattle Area and Nationally. Both start at $122.

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