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The lobby of The Showroom in Asbury Park. Photo by Mary Walton

By Charles Layton

In case you didn’t see it, the New York Times had a splashy half-page spread on Sunday that dealt mainly with The Showroom but also the broader cultural scene in Asbury Park.

You can find this piece on The Times’ website or on page 9 of the metro section in the dead-tree version of the paper. Every Ocean Grover should read this, because we are just a few steps away from this burgeoning new scene that’s centered right on Cookman Avenue. It’s just a three-block walk from the Wesley Lake footbridge to The Showroom. Beats the heck out of driving to Red Bank.

The article points out that The Showroom is just about the only place outside of New York that presents such a steady stream of top-quality independent and art-house films. And that it also seasons the mix with special programs — beer and chocolate tastings, live comedy and theater, poetry readings, and discussion and lecture events.

Mary and I saw “Searching For Sugar Man” there recently and it was wonderful. First, the movie itself was good — it’s an Oscar nominee in the documentary feature category — and second, we got to watch it in the smallest of the theater’s three screening rooms, where one sits on cushiony, upholstered armchairs, complete with upholstered footstools. This is unlike any other movie experience I’ve ever had. One of the cool things about it is the intimacy. The customers interact and chat while waiting for the movie to start; it’s almost like being in someone’s home.

The Times also talks about some of the other cultural happenings in Asbury, such as the Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts and the Asbury Musical Heritage Foundation that’s right across the street from the Showroom.

The story fails to mention the fact that this same little neighborhood has, within such a small space, the nicest collection of restuarants I know of in all of New Jersey. We are very lucky to have all this.