Poe Dinner: A Meal with Macabre at Rovali’s

The Third Annual Poe Dinner at Rovali’s Ristorante is already sold out for this weekend.  The Ogden restaurant, located on Historic 25th Street, has expanded its celebration of Edgar Allan Poe to two nights, Oct. 18 or 19. The restaurant can only accommodate 40 people each night, and there’s already a waiting list of about 20 people, said restaurant owner owner Alex Montanez. Given this year’s interest, Montanez is thinking that next year, he’ll expand his event to two weekends.

Guests will dine outdoors on the restaurant’s courtyard, which will be decked out with spooky lights and propane heaters for warmth. Over entrees such as lasagna, vodka tortellini or chicken Parmesan, professional storytellers will read some of Poe’s writings. There’s also a silent auction of Poe-themed artwork by local artists.

John and Phoebe Poe, Utahns who are descended from Edgar Allan Poe’s family, will be special guests at the dinner, said Montanez.

He came up with the idea because he’s a great fan of Poe, who wrote such haunting stories as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” or “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” His poem, “The Raven,” was a required reading in many high school English classes. If you lived in Utah during the 1960s, you probably shivered through movie adaptations of his stories on KCPX-TV’s “Nightmare Theater.”

“After reviewing his history, he was really quite a sad man,” said Montanez, who likes the imagery in his writing.

Poe was born in 1809 and died at age 40. His father abandoned the family, his mother died when he was a baby, and he became estranged from his adoptive father. He spent much of his short life as a newspaper and magazine editor, and struggled to make a living as an author.  His wife died young, and Poe had a well-documented drinking problem. With those kind of issues, perhaps it’s no wonder he came up with some pretty dark stories.

His own death was perhaps the biggest mystery of all. He was supposed to be on a train to New York but somehow ended up wandering in Baltimore, delirious. He wasn’t coherent enough to explain what happened to him before he died.

Poe died destitute, without much appreciation for his talent. But over the years, his tales have made a lot of money for Hollywood. And, he’s received much acclaim by fans, including those who are going to dine in his honor this weekend.