Hotel Restaurants

Ten reasons why it pays to ?nd accommodations with great food.

EAT UP (&) BED DOWN
*10 Reasons why it pays to stay in a hotel with a great restaurant

words by > Nancy Davidson

Casino hotels in Las Vegas have upped the ante on hotel dining, luring big name chefs and celebrity architects to their properties with the promise of huge budgets and artistic freedom. It’s a trend that’s also taken hold among grand hotels undergoing multi-million dollar renovations and boutique hotels finding their niches.

(1) DESTINATION DINING

Passionate foodies will find any excuse to visit another city when there’s a new restaurant they want to try. Chef Richard Brandenburg intends Urbana Restaurant (www.urbanadc.com), adjacent to the Hotel Palomar (www.hotelpalomar-dc.com) in Washington, DC, to be a dining destination, having returned to his native city after a tour of duty which took him from the Culinary Institute of America and Le Bernardin in New York, to Fifth Floor in San Francisco, to Atelier in London. Urbana draws on the influences of Northern Italy and Southern France to create signature pastas, grilled meats and seafood that are worth a special trip.

(2) BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE

In Chicago, the winter cold and wind can be a pain, especially if you didn’t pack thermal underwear. But if you stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago (www..parkchicago.hyatt.com), you can go out to dinner without wearing a coat. At NoMI (www.nomirestaurant.com), on the seventh floor of the hotel, above the Magnificent Mile with views of the Chicago skyline, you’ll find a selection of sushi and sashimi, spiced watermelon soup with basil oil, escargot tempura and white Pekin duck, among other intriguing options. Chef Christophe David may cook with ingredients from small producers with farms in Illinois or from small villages in Italy, but your meal is just an elevator ride away.

(3) YOU WON’T GET LOST

On your first night in a city that’s new to you, avoid the anxiety of navigating your way around unfamiliar territory. At the Carlton Hotel on Madison Avenue (www.carltonhotelny.com) in Manhattan, you can get settled in and then head to Country (www..countryinnewyork.com). The restaurant has both a formal dining room upstairs and a casual bar and café just off the lobby. Chef-owner Geoffrey Zakarian jumped at the opportunity to be involved in the restoration, renovation and re-opening of a 110-year-old hotel—and his enthusiasm carries through to the food, which is seasonal and creative. Use the time you might have wasted wandering around searching for a place to eat instead choosing selections from the enticing menu. Will it be seared scallops with fig jam and fennel, or crushed herb risotto with green tomato marmalade?

(4) STAY IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Many hotel guests enjoy the luxury of not having to prepare for a night out on the town when all they want is a nice meal. “We’re going to be providing five-star service and quality of food,” says Chef Phil Evans of Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa (www..theumstead.com), opening in Cary, North Carolina (just east of Raleigh) in January, but the restaurant won’t be stuffy. “If a guest comes down in shorts, we’re not going to tell him to go up to his room and change.”

(5) GREAT ROOM SERVICE

If a guest prefers to stay in his room at the Umstead, he can have pretty much the same meal he’d have at Herons.
Chef Evans will be drawing on seasonal ingredients that are as local as it gets, including lemon verbena, lavender, basil, cilantro, parsley, chocolate mint or spearmint, all picked on site from the hotel’s herb garden. He’s also working with local purveyors such as Elodie Farms, to create unique, local artisanal products such as goat’s cheese, Stilton and mill-ground cornmeal. When the food is ready, built-in devices signal to servers that it’s ready to be picked up from a custom designed alcove (no trays in the hallway!).

(6) WATCH THE NATIVES

When the restaurant is a draw for the city’s residents, you’ll be dining with locals. Wolfgang Puck’s modern steakhouse, CUT (www.wolfgangpuck. com), at the newly renovated Beverly Wilshire (www.fourseasons.com) attracts mostly locals, according to the chef. The modern steakhouse utilizes two kinds of fire in the brand new kitchen, says Puck, “wood fire for smokiness and a very hot broiler” to give the meat a charred finish. The food, and the striking design, is attracting an A-list LA crowd, but six tables are reserved for hotel guests.

(7) GREAT SNACKS

From clever desserts to poolside burgers to late night snacks, the best hotel restaurants can satisfy a range of cravings. At Uni (www.cliorestaurant.com), the lounge in Boston’s charming boutique Eliot Hotel (www.eliothotel.com), the Japanese-inspired cocktails and sushi and sashimi snacks are beyond special. Make yourself at home and feast on small but rich bites of layered eel and foie gras or sea urchin and quail egg in a spoon.

(8) PRIORITY RESERVATIONS

New Yorkers are salivating at the thought of Joël Robuchon’s first restaurant in New York. But there are only 26 table seats and 20 stools at the counter at L’Atelier— and some of those are reserved for guests of the Four Seasons Hotel (www.fourseasons.com). If you want to be among the fortunate to indulge in sea urchin in lobster gelee with cauliflower cream, poached baby oysters with salted butter, or steak tartare with French fries, book a room—then a table.

(9) ENJOY THE COMPLETE RESORT EXPERIENCE

The last thing you want to worry about when you’re relaxing at a resort is whether the food will be good. It had better be. Chef Michael Mina, famous for his San Francisco restaurants, traveled south to open Stonehill Tavern (www.michaelmina.net) at Dana Point, south of Los Angeles. “The southern California lifestyle at the St. Regis Monarch Beach (www.stregismb. com) is very appealing,” he admits. “The ocean, the sunsets, the casual, cool atmosphere—it’s unique.” The cuisine is American tavern comfort food with panache—juicy chicken fried whole with crispy skin, Maine lobster baked in the shell in a Guerande salt crust, or tender suckling pig with root vegetables. The wines focus on California, and the cocktails, like the Moscow Mule, are classics elevated by the use of ingredients such as fresh juices, herbs and vegetables.

(10) DRINK, DON’T DRIVE

When your bedroom is upstairs, you don’t have to worry about parking, taxis, subways or buses. At the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (www.hollywoodroosevelt.com) in LA, you won’t even have to think about the valet. Stroll through the vast terracotta-tiled lobby to Dakota (www.dakota-restaurant.com), a contemporary steakhouse from Tim and Liza Goodell, designed by Dodd Mitchell, who also did the renovations to the legendary Hollywood hotel once frequented by Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hollywood glamour is the theme throughout, from the grand staircase to the rich leather and suede banquettes. The food is opulent too. American Kobe rib-eye or slow braised short ribs, porterhouse steak, bone-in filet and veal cheeks cover the turf; on the surf side, there’s Dover sole, diver scallops, Hawaiian big eye tuna and Maine lobster.