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Did You Know The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago Invented The Brownie?

Where: 17 E. Monroe St. [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60603

Chicago's Palmer House Hilton has some serious bragging rights when it comes to dessert. The hotel invented the brownie. According the Palmer House, socialite and owner Bertha Palmer asked the hotel chefs to create a sweet for the Women's Pavilion at the the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and they came up with the all-magnificent brownie.

We headed to the Palmer House to see if the first brownie house served up a killer dose of chocolatey goodness after 116 years. The newest brownie incarnation in the hotel restaurant, Lockwood, is different from the original treat, which supposedly had an apricot glaze and nuts. Our version, our waiter told us, is only the base of Bertha's original brownie.

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Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Food / Family Friendly Hotels / → All Tags

The Loews Miami Beach Serves TV Dinners to Guests. The Little Ones.

Where: 1601 Collins Ave [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33139

Remember TV dinners? Oh, the excitement they signaled. A big TV show about to start (like Knight Rider!), getting to sit on the couch with a cute little tray in front of you, and, um, the food. Right. Well, two out of three ain't bad. And if the Loews Miami Beach Hotel gets its way, TV dinners will now be known as delicious.

The property, one of the few on the South Beach strip that dares to promote itself as "family friendly" is introducing new kids' menus at its poolside Nautilus Bar and Grill, and at the hotel's signature restaurant, Preston's Brasserie, where "Floribbean" cuisine is the order of the day. And, yup, the new kiddie food is served TV-dinner style.

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Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel News / Hotel Food / Fontainebleau Hotels / → All Tags

Kosher Caterers Now Have to Schlep to Fontainebleau

Where: 4441 Collins Ave [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33140

Oh, Page Six. Not only can we always come to you for the dirtiest gossip, but we know we can always count on you for the classiest ledes. Like this one, kicking off a story about the newly renovated Fontainebleau in Miami: "Miami Beach has changed a lot from the days when so many thousands of elderly Jews retired there, it was called "God's waiting room."

Delicate wording aside, Page Six in today's NY Post does raise a pretty good question: where did the kosher kitchen go? Apparently, the property closed for the massive renovations and reopened minus the separate, entirely kosher kitchen. Oh noes!

From the Post:

Not that there won't be Orthodox bar (or bat) mitzvahs or Jewish weddings anymore - the hotel will use kosher caterers for those events. A spokeswoman informed us, "Fontainebleau will provide kosher meals for holidays upon special request and for private events."

See, super rich kids? You can still have your over-the-top bat mitzvah at the Fontainebleau; no need to throw a fit.

Tags: Hotel Packages / Hotel Food / Themed Hotel Dinners / Hotel Restaurants / D.C. Hotels / Loews Hotels / → All Tags

Hotels Still Making Money Off Politics-Themed Gimmicks :: D.C. Foodie Edition

Where: 1177 15th St Nw [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20005

Since the hotel industry is never one to shy away from banking off of whatever political happening may roll in some extra dough, the Loews Madison Hotel is offering a special Inauguration Menu from January 10-25, 2009 to give you ample time to celebrate the inauguration of your candidate of choice -- or drown your sorrows in a bellyfull of toffee pudding or praline souffle.

Chef Arnel Esposo of Palette restaurant will cook up his versions of official inaugural luncheon food from over the years -- that is, a three-course, prix fixe menu inspired by (not replicating!) the food served at the luncheons hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies over the last few decades.

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Tags: DNC Hotels / Denver Hotels / Hotel Food / Hotel News / Election 2008 Hotels / Political Hotels / → All Tags

It's Crunch Time and Cocktail Time for Denver DNC Hotels

Denver's getting into the the political spirit for next week's Democratic National Convention -- and, apparently, that spirit has led to some inspired menu choices and some major scrambling at some of the city's hotels.

First up: food. The Rocky Mountain News highlighted the Ritz-Carlton Denver's DNC-themed offerings at their restaurant Elway:

Expect cocktails like Barack on the Rocks, the Changing Tide, the O'Pama Granite martini and Media Madness as well as Obamalettes, Ba'Rack shrimp appetizers, "Yes We Can!" pancakes, Ballot Box Brownies and Campaign '08 trail mix, complete, of course, with blue M&M's.

As for those cocktails, we might suggest that none of them contain tequila -- you know, since Barack is all about hope and we know that all hope (for us, anyway) evaporates when tequila gets involved.

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Tags: Memphis Hotel Reviews / Hotel Food / → All Tags

Dinner at The Peabody: Just Don't Try and Order Duck Confit

Where: 149 Union Ave. [map], Memphis, TN, United States, 38103

For everyone with an oil portrait of Robert E. Lee hanging in the Billiard Room, you and your fellow Daughters of the American Revolution should venture from the plantation to enjoy a fantastic meal at Chez Phillipe, a Forbes Traveler story on the best hotel food reports.

The French-Asian establishment, located within The Peabody hotel in Memphis, is one of the highest rated restaurants below the Mason-Dixon.

Apparently, all the restaurant buzz proves the hotel now has more than marching ducks to offer its travelers. Since 1932, when a few drunken aristocrats left their duck decoys in the hotel fountain after a day of hunting, fowl have achieved royalty status at The Peabody. According to the hotel web site:

The ducks are housed in the "Duck Palace" on the hotel roof. Every day at 11 a.m., they are led by the Duckmaster down the elevator to the Italian travertine marble fountain in the Peabody Grand Lobby. A red carpet is unrolled and the ducks march through crowds of admiring spectators to the tune of John Philip Sousa's King Cotton March. The ceremony is reversed at 5 p.m., when the ducks retire for the evening to their palace on the roof of the hotel.

Somewhere, Scrooge McDuck seethes with jealousy.

[Photo: bearclau]