Fine dining became a thing way back in the late 1700s in France. A Swiss developer by the name of Cesar Ritz partnered with a prominent French Chef at the grand hotel of Monte Carlo. I know this is useless information for a virtual restaurant but cool facts to know the next time you are fine dining and want to spark up a fruitless conversation. If it wasn't for Mr. Ritz and his buddy Auguste, we might all still be eating with our mouths rudely opened and using our hands being all uncivilized. Here we are almost 300 years later and we now have virtual restaurants where you can’t eat actual food but you can pretend you can and lives your best virtual life being able to afford to foot the bill for yourself and all your friends. Even impress your date with a fancy fine dining experience under the stars.
The SL Enquirer met up with Alassra, the owner of Eclipse Restaurant. It is the newest fine dining venue on the grid boasting a beautiful landscape that stands out in the midnight setting. There are different setups you can choose from, each with its own theme. It’s not open to random foot traffic though. You have to make a reservation!
Interview with Alassra (xalassrax)
SLE: HI Alassra, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Can you tell our readers where you are from and how you discovered Second Life?
Alassra: Hi Lanai! It's a pleasure to meet you also, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today! I am from the US, in the state of Illinois and I have been a gamer for a long time, originally starting back with Ultima Online ages ago! From there I explored various other games and spent a lot of time on IMVU before finding my way to Second Life. It actually took several years and the Covid pandemic for me to find the patience and time to really sit down and try Second Life. I would always get instantly turned off by how difficult, or so I thought back then, it was to just get dressed. However, once Covid hit and shut everything down for so long, I was looking for some form of substitute for some of the things I missed being able to do in RL, such as going out to movies, shopping, dinners, and dancing, etc. That is what brought me to really sit down and put effort into trying Second Life. IMVU lacked that ability to go to a mall and walk around browsing, trying things on, buying what you want since theirs was just a "shop", but Second Life gave that feel of something with a little more realism, since I could go to a "mall" and walk around with friends, trying on different things in a "dressing room", and just have that aspect of Roleplay that helped ease the lack of socializing and activity that RL was missing at the time due to the pandemic. I just wish I had taken the time sooner, rather than it taking a pandemic and shut down of everything to get me to give Second Life a real chance!
SLE: The pandemic has certainly breathed new life into Second Life for many. Since we all have felt the effects of lockdowns. Missing our friends and families and even catching covid or losing loved ones to this terrible pandemic. SL certainly gave many of us a form of social life and normalcy even if virtually. Roleplay Restaurants and dining services are a perfect example and a fun way to be social, go on dates, gather with friends, and even host business meetings. What inspired you to get into the virtual hospitality industry here in Second Life?
Alassra: Yes! They truly are! Especially when RL doesn't always allow for those activities! When Valentine's day 2021 rolled around, we were almost a full year into the shutdowns from Covid. As I was browsing through things on Second Life, I found a post about Valentine's Dinner/Event, and I immediately went to the Sim location to check out the special dinner details. I ended up purchasing not only a dinner reservation for myself and my husband, but also for my sister and her date! I also ended up applying for a job at the business. It was Serendipity's Weddings & Events, and I booked several RP dinner's there during my time on staff. Serendipity's, unfortunately, closed its doors on March 31st this year, and it was that event that convinced me to open Eclipse. I was sad to see such an amazing RP experience go, and while I enjoyed working as a wedding coordinator, it was partaking in the dinners that were my favorite part, my husband and I had several dinners there, we even had a family dinner event this past December that was amazing! I wanted to continue to give Second Life a place that offered at least some of the magic that it would miss with Serendipity's closure.
SLE: Absolutely! Can you tell our readers about Eclipse Restaurant and what services it provides the Second Life community?
Alassra: Oh I would love to! Eclipse Restaurant is a place where you can plan a special night with your partner, your family, or a group of friends. Something that gives more than just a "night out", we give our guests an experience that they will enjoy and remember. We are all experienced in this industry, as well as being experienced in Roleplay, therefore we provide a full service, Roleplay aspect to your night out! Our guests are asked several questions upon booking any of our packages in order for us to ensure that we have all the fine details needed to ensure that we give them a magical evening! We have 3 different dinner venue options to choose from, giving our guests their choice between dinner at the beach, in the forest, or in a more elegant/formal venue. We customize the color of the flower arrangements, and table settings to color(s) picked by the guest, and if there are any special events, we are sure to acknowledge it so that our guests know our staff is celebrating with them! We have several different packages to choose from, and pricing that is fair and affordable! We can also customize packages for our clients, if there are certain aspects they want in one package, but not other items in the package, we will work with each client to ensure that we provide what they are looking for in their Roleplay dining experience! We can serve a small, romantic dinner for 2, or a large group event dinner service! Our staff will always be professional in attire as well as behavior, and they will always provide an amazing roleplay experience. We also have 3 options for arrival to the dinner venue that our guests have picked, including our very popular scenic Steam Coach flight! This allows us to give our guests an even more memorable evening as they are flown over the restaurant in a short little tour before landing to begin their dinner.
SLE: I love that you offer customizable options for your guests. I can see many different ideas visitors can come up with for special occasions. Do all your guests need a reservation? If so, how can they request one?
Alassra: Yes, we do require reservations at Eclipse. This is due to us providing a private fine dining experience, rather than a more public, open dining venue. We want to ensure that our guests can enjoy their evening in a more secluded, intimate environment versus a busy public restaurant type of venue. We do have several ways that reservations can be made - you can purchase your package choice from one of the signs in our shop, or from the self-service kiosk at the shop, which will guide you to filling out the reservation form, either of these options will have a member of staff reach out to you and complete the reservation process. Or you can book directly with a member of staff if one is available at the shop. You can also contact me, or my assistant manager, ASH (tiptonik) in world via NC and we will get back to you ASAP to get your reservation setup! We try to make sure that we have several options to make it as easy as possible for our guests to reserve a night in one of our beautiful dining venues.
SLE: That’s great you plenty of options to make it easy for guest to book their special dining experience. During the tour, I saw you have some private locations for romantic dining. Can you share with us what each one represents?
Alassra: We have 3 beautiful private dining venues for our guests to pick from, and our servers have uniforms that were made with each venue in mind to add to the experience. Our first dinner venue is the Beach venue and it is a little more carefree and relaxing in design than our other venues. It puts the guests up in the air floating near the waterfall, able to view down to the little beach and waterway below. It represents that feeling of class, and formality but with a little mix of carefree and boho added in.
Our next venue is our Forest dinner venue, and it is right in the middle of the forest, hidden amongst the trees, butterflies, unicorns, and just all the magical beauty that nature gives us. It represents the feel of getting all dressed up but in a way to also enjoy and celebrate the amazing beauty of nature.
Our final venue is the Elegant/Formal dinner venue, which sits atop a giant pillar overlooking our large stage area. It represents the traditional concept of the "date night" or "night out", where one would get all dressed up, and go for something formal, elegant, and classy and just pay homage to the traditional "night out" celebration. This allows us to have something for just about everyone, whether they are just looking for a more carefree, relaxing experience, something in between, or the full-on elegant, formal experience.
SLE: All three are beautiful designs! What other amenities and events do you host on the sim aside from a fine dining experience?
Alassra: That is a wonderful question, Lanai! We do have several amenities and events on our Sims. I say Sims because we have a "sister" Sim just below us on the map! The Deviant Dragon Sim hosts Eclipse Restaurant & Events, it also is the home of the Dragon's Tail Tavern, which hosts several live singers regularly including Clairede Dirval, Essence, and Rocky TooCool! We host holiday events in the tavern as well and have various contents there. We also have the MilkyWay Skating & Arcade Hub located on the Sim, and it is getting ready to celebrate an 80's night on the 14th of this month! There will be a Best in 80's outfit contest too! The Deviant Dragon Sim also is where you can find the Dragon's Tail riding track, The Dragon's Dream Reiki & Tarot Spa, Lunation, and several other mall shops! So there is always something to do, from mini-golf and skating, to live concerts, dining, shopping or just relaxing on our Adults Only beach area on the other side of Eclipse! Our sister sim, Deviant Tranquility is an adults-only relaxation experience, with every aspect built with adults in mind. You can relax at the beach, explore the crystal caves, camp out in the forest, or explore your adventurous side at Eden, the BDSM club. So we definitely have a lot to offer our guests! And both Sims do offer event hosting/setup services too!
SLE: Wow you have a lot going on! I love the 80’s so I’ll have to come to those events. Can you tell our readers why you created this sim? Did you see a niche needing to be filled? Or was this just a dream of something you wanted to create?
Alassra: When we started with Deviant Tranquility, it was to create a relaxing, adults-only hub that could be an escape and our own little piece of paradise. As time went on, there was a need for more space and offerings, so Deviant Dragon was created. My husband loves to DJ and loves all types of music, however, he would frequently get frustrated with a lot of restrictions at many clubs already out there in Second Life, so the Dragon's Tail Tavern was born, and became his own little space to host singers, DJ, and hold events and parties at. After Serendipity closed down, I definitely felt the void that the loss of their restaurant services left for myself and others, and that is what led to a more focused drive with the Sim, and a desire to create this place that would provide various activities in one spot, whether it was a date night experience with a full-service roleplay aspect, or games, mini-golf, skating, shopping, dancing, or relaxing on a beach. We just wanted to expand and having 2 Sims allowed this opportunity for us to do so. We have something for everyone essentially! Therefore filling all the little niche areas that we saw needing work, and creating something wonderful we could share with others in Second Life at the same time!
SLE: You and your team did an amazing job creating a romantic almost whimsical destination for a nice quiet evening under the stars. It takes a team of dedicated people to keep things running perfectly. Did you build the sim on your own or did you have a team of people helping? If so, who are they?
Alassra: Thank you so much, Lanai! I definitely had help! None of it would have been possible without my husband, Sarlorn (calimar). He is such a creative person and always has the best ideas for layouts and amazing taste! He is extremely picky so he really takes his time as he works on a project, so everything I found or set up, I would always run by him to get his opinion on. He worked extremely hard on the Sim, and got everything set up with me, every step of the way! My sisters, Scarlet (XxHoneyBadgerxX) and AllieCay Littlepaws were also instrumental in getting things together. They were the ones that encouraged me to give Second Life a try and helped me learn the aspects of Sim setup, and they built Deviant Tranquility in all of its beauty from the ground up to what you see today! They laughed when I accidentally retiled the grass with a shopping ad texture and showed me how to fix it, they never berated me for mistakes I made as I was learning and building, so they were a huge part of getting Eclipse coming to be. I can't forget my wonderful niece, ΛSH (tiptonik), who has been a HUGE help with getting Eclipse going, and the Deviant Dragon Sim put together. She is the Eclipse Assistant Manager, and helps keep my head on straight when dealing with the admin side of things! She helpls reign me in when I get too overzealous with my shopping/decorating ideas too! Ha! She has not been on Second Life for very long, but she has learned so much, so fast, I trust her completely with decorating, setup, running Eclipse, etc.! I also couldn't keep Eclipse going without the wonderful staff team that has stepped up to help undertake this venture - Dr Hikiera (hikiera) and Lunastra Blackwood, two of our servers; cσσкıe Sereηα Mυɴѕтer (cooooookiecrips) one of our amazing photographers; and two of our amazing DJ's, Tαm Lılıth Dαlgααrd (tamiqua.cheng) and ღ Hailey Day Rollins ღ (haileyday). We would not be here without this amazing team of people!
SLE: It is very important to have a “tribe” of supportive friends in Second Life. It can be very difficult having to manage everything yourself so I’m so glad to hear that! Are you currently hiring? And if so, for what positions?
Alassra: We are! We are hiring roleplay servers, DJs, sales reps, and photographers for Eclipse, and we also have spots for DJs and hosts at the tavern! We also have several positions in general for the Sim. Our application can be found at: https://forms.gle/H6ExNeZnrPbjtGsh8
SLE: It was an absolute pleasure interviewing you Alassra, We wish you the very best with Eclipse and your sister Deviant Tranquility sims. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Alassra: I would just like to tell them that if they are looking for a wonderful date night, family night, friends night out, or dinner event of any type to come to check us out! We are extremely flexible and we will do what we can to set up exactly what you are looking for in your dining/event package! We have several other activities on the Sims, and I encourage them to check out both places, and explore all that the Deviant Sims offer, outside of Eclipse Restaurant!
Please provide the below information:
Additional Information:
SLURLS: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deviant%20Dragon/85/57/21
Landing point and guest entry: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deviant%20Dragon/104/43/21
Shops:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deviant%20Dragon/242/21/985
Website: https://xalassrax.wixsite.com/deviantsims
Dinner Reservation Form - https://forms.gle/zRVWwk12nrtsY9Vw5
Policies, package info, etc. can be found on our website https://xalassrax.wixsite.com/deviantsims/eclipse
Preferred Contact: Alassra (xalassrax)
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