LeBron James has invited you over to dinner.
And you can forget any cloth napkins or highbrow fancy entrees in some huge mansion.
This dinner is not with the NBA superstar.
Instead, you are dining with young LeBron. That “Just a Kid from Akron” who grew up in the city’s Spring Hill Apartments.
To give a flavor of what life was like back when LeBron was born, the basketball player’s Buckets restaurant inside of the House Three Thirty has opened a special room for private dining.
Appropriately named 1984 − the year LeBron was born at Akron City Hospital − the private dining space is like stepping back in time.
The walls are covered with posters from the notable year in Akron history.
And the first thing that catches your eye by the room’s entrance is LeBron’s “birth certificate” with some humorous touches, including notations that he weighs 251 pounds and is 6 feet 9 inches tall.
Instead of a baby footprint − there’s the imprint of a size 15 sneaker.
The room’s personal touches don’t stop there and even includes a Goodyear tire ashtray that was a staple inside homes in the Rubber City.
There are Stretch Armstrong action figures to play with, along with a stack of vintage 1980s board games.
A record player sits in one corner with albums of the era, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” ready to be played.
And for the gamers, there’s an Atari with the then latest hits, including a Pong reboot and a Pacman videogame table nearby.
As fun as the surroundings are, Chef Aaron Blank said, they are just the appetizer.
The private space has its own menu offerings.
Blank said guests still will be able to order off the Buckets menu that features a variety of offerings, including the restaurant’s signature fried chicken.
But great care was taken to dream up and offer some modern takes on the classic food of the 1980s, Blank said.
One of the signature items is a version of a Hot Pocket cooked up from scratch in the House Three Thirty kitchen, which is staffed with Akron residents of all ages learning job skills through the LeBron James Family Foundation.
The Hot Pocket features shaved ribeye with caramelized onions and mushrooms in a puffed pastry topped with house queso cheese and fried potato slivers.
Blank said they plan offer other versions of the classic snack.
To help wash it down, the room will have its own signature non-alcoholic super sweet lemonade that is a homage to a drink box.
The featured dessert was dreamed up by former LeBron James student ambassador Summer Fouse, an Ellet High School graduate, who is the kitchen manager at Buckets.
Fouse said LeBron’s childhood favorite cereal was Fruity Pebbles so she worked on coming up with tasty dessert using it as the main ingredient.
The culinary graduate from Johnson Wales in North Carolina created a Fruity Pebbles rice crispy crust for the room’s cheesecake.
“I just ran with it,” Fouse said.
Blank said coming up with the room’s special offerings has been a lot of fun and additional dishes ‒ including a twist on the classic sloppy joe ‒ are in the works.
“The fun thing about this place is there are no limits on the creativity,” he said of House Three Thirty.
Jon Erisey, who was instrumental in the design process of Buckets and manages projects at House Three Thirty, said he and others scoured vintage stores around Greater Akron to help furnish the 1984 room.
“We want people to walk in and say, ‘This place is crazy cool,'” he said.
And he hopes the room’s collection will continue to grow over time.
Some of the items already in the room are the real deal.
The tray tables guests dine on in the private room are actually from LeBron’s house and were fit for the King himself.
Erisey said LeBron is a fan of dining on tray tables, so it only made sense that they be a part of the experience.
And LeBron won’t miss them, he said, as they simply bought new ones to replace the ones taken from the family’s home in Bath Township.
Like the museum dedicated to LeBron’s life inside of the House Three Thirty and the work of his namesake foundation that helps Akron school kids and their families, Erisey said, the room was intentionally designed so guests feel part of the experience.
“We want people to play with the Atari,” he said.
The large original painting on one wall of the room was commissioned by Hennessey to celebrate the collaboration of a limited-edition cognac with LeBron.
Erisey said once they saw the painting that celebrates LeBron’s life and noticed 1984 on the wooden barrel, they knew it had to be incorporated into the room’s design.
Erisey said the goal is to create a comfortable space for guests to hang out for awhile and not just dine and run.
He envisions folks playing games, eating and then hanging out watching a sports game or a movie on the room’s large TV.
“This is an overall fun experience,” he said. “This is not just a dining experience.”
There is a second private dining room inside the restaurant.
Erisey said they are still working on the design for that space.
“Our mission is to offer something for everyone,” he said.
How to rent the 1984 private dining room
The 1984 private dining room tucked inside the Buckets restaurant on West Market Street is available by reservation only.
It can accommodate up to 10 diners at a time for either lunch or dinner.
Reservations must be made 24 hours in advance by calling 330-217-9932.
There is a $300 deposit with $200 credited toward food and drinks − the remaining $100 covers the room’s rental.
For more, visit buckets330.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Private room in LeBron James’ restaurant takes you back to 1984 Akron
Reporting by Craig Webb, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
