Human-Size Meals to Satisfy \'Hobbit\' Hungers

Denny's/io9.com A promotional poster for a “Hobbit”-theme menu at Denny's.

When your hobbit-hole has been used as a stomping ground by thirteen unruly dwarves and an enigmatic wizard, and your weeks of wild adventures with them have introduced you to goblins, trolls, elves, wargs, Gollum and a sinister dragon, what you need next is a big breakfast. For those fans of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel “The Hobbit,” whose appetites have been whet by months of promotion for Peter Jackson's coming film adaptation but cannot wait for the Dec. 14 release date of the first movie (of three), Denny's has stepped in to fill the void with a promotional menu offering food that they may or may not really have eaten in Middle-earth. “Is it nice, my precious? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?” Well, according to the science-fiction and pop-culture Web site io9.com, this special Denny's menu features such authentic items as Bilbo's Berry Smoothie; Gandalf's Gobble Melt (a turkey sandwich); Radagast's Red Velvet Pancake Puppies; and the Ring Burger (topped with what appear to be three onion rings to rule them all). Now, one does not simply walk into Denny's and order these “Hobbit”-related foodstuffs â€" at least, not until Nov. 6, when participating restaurants will start offering them.

For moviegoers who hope to have their senses rattled in other ways, Mr. Jackson and Dolby Laboratories have said that the first “Hobbit” film, subtitled “An Unexpected Journey,” will be released using Dolby Atmos, a new sound system that adds additional arrays of speakers for a more immersive listening experience, The Associated Press reported.