Tag: Hotel Restaurants
View All TagsHotel Restaurants / Santa Monica Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / → All Tags
Blue Plate Taco Next to The Shore Hotel Left Us a Little Blue
When The Shore Hotel opened in Santa Monica, Calif. over a year ago, we were excited that (finally!) a new, hip and eco-friendly hotel had opened just a mere two blocks from the Santa Monica Pier along Ocean Avenue. But we were equally, maybe more, excited for the Blue Plate Taco restaurant to open adjacent to the hotel.
The taco joint would be the third restaurant from the Blue Plate people who also have well-reviewed Blue Plate Oysterette further north on Ocean Avenue as well as popular breakfast spot, Blue Plate Kitchen inland on Montana Avenue. It took a while, but BPT finally opened last Fall, giving hotel guests a fun spot to grab margaritas, ceviches chips and guac, grilled corn and of course tacos. And we finally got to hit up the spot on Saturday night.
Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / London Hotels / UK Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Kaspar Tells No Seafood Secrets From The Savoy London. Get It?
The Savoy in London, managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, is launching its new Art Deco restaurant concept on Thursday, May 2: Kaspar's Seafood Bar & Grill. By naming it Kaspar’s the hotel is keeping alive one of its most celebrated (and superstitious) guests.
Here’s the story: In 1898, South African diamond magnate Woolf Joel held a dinner at The Savoy for fourteen guests and one cancelled at the last minute. The dinner continued, but one superstitious guest announced that death would come to the first person to leave the unlucky table of thirteen. Joel took that gamble and a few weeks later he was shot dead in Johannesburg.
To avoid a repeat performance and damage to its reputation, The Savoy offered a member of the staff to sit amongst tables of thirteen thereafter. However, unable to discuss private matters or tell ribald jokes, this proved to be unpopular with guests and thus, in a stroke of genius, Kaspar the cat was born.
This three-foot sculpture of a cat was made in 1926. For 90 years , The Savoy has been happy to oblige parties of thirteen with Kaspar's company, where he wears a jaunty napkin around his neck and is given his own place setting to enjoy every course.
Hotel Chefs / Hotel Restaurants / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / California Hotels / → All Tags
Copy Ritz-Carlton San Francisco's Parallel 37's Exotic Produce Dishes
Here's the latest happening in the luxury hotel world as told by JustLuxe's own Lena Katz. Got a question about luxury hotels, the travel biz, and where to stay? Send it in and we'll have Lena answer it.
A recent dinner at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco’s swank Parallel 37 food-geeked us out, thanks to new chef Michael Rotondo’s tendency to incorporate the most exotic produce items in California into his tasting menu. Torpedo radish? Smoked sunchokes? Arugula blossoms? It’s all coming at ya…and it’s good.
Chef Rotondo, who recently arrived from Chicago where he cooked under Charlie Trotter for eight years, admitted when he wanders through the San Francisco area farmers markets, he often doesn't recognize some of the stranger fruits – and when that happens, he usually buys the questionable item, takes it back to the kitchen, and figures out a tasty use for it.
We asked him to identify seven awesome produce items he’s cooking with right now, and tell us what the heck to do with them
Fermented Black Garlic: Ferment whole bulbs of garlic at high temperature, and they’ll turn black and taste sweet and syrupy, with hints of licorice and balsamic. Black garlic isn’t the prettiest veggie in the drawer, but it adds a complexity to a dish that raw garlic can't match. Most Asian markets carry black garlic. We have it on the lunch menu currently - blended into a light aioli and used on our albacore tuna sandwich.
Hotel Health / Omni Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Nutrition / → All Tags
Diet Tips From 'The Biggest Loser' Available For Omni Hotel Guests
Interested in losing weight but not so keen on staying at one of those Biggest Loser Resorts? Then stick with Omni Hotels since they just hired the Biggest Loser's nutritionist to put healthy choices on all the hotel restaurant and in-room dining menu.
Cheryl Forberg R.D. is a James Beard award-winning chef as well as a nutritionist and she's been tasked with creating delicious yet good-for-you meals for all Omni Hotels. She's even revamping the Omni Kids Menu which we hope will be free of chicken nuggets, pizza and mac n' cheese. Or at least, she'll find a way to sneak some veggies into those options.
Hiring a nutritionist to work on their menus is just the latest action Omni Hotels has taken in healthy hotel living. Back in 2007, Omni was one of the first hotel brand to eliminate trans-fat cooking oil from their kitchens and start exclusively using cage-free eggs. Omni has also added gluten-free breakfast stations in their hotels and have included more locally sourced items like condiments, jams and honeys and even a special sausage patty with blueberries made exclusively for Omni. To learn more about Cheryl Forberg, check out the Omni's Q&A with her.
While we're still believe in treating yourself at a hotel, we're actually keen to stay at an Omni on our next trip because we know we won't totally go off the rails as far as our diet is concerned. What about you? Does the new nutritionist make you want to stay at an Omni Hotel next time you go away? Tell us in comments below!
[Photo: Omni Hotels]
Hotel Packages / Hotel Programs / Manhattan Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
The Carlyle Reinvents Book Club With "Lunch Series" Starring Angelou and Quindlen
Don’t have time to commit to a book club? Not always able to get out for lunch? Well, New York's Carlyle has a compromise with their new Literary Luncheon Series, “In Conversation at The Carlyle”.
In conjunction with Random House Publishing Group, the legendary hotel is bringing three celebrated authors to have a three-course lunch, chats, and personalized book signings of their latest books with an intimate group of readers.
Right now there are three Lunch Series scheduled:
Monday, April 1: Legendary poet, writer, teacher, and director Dr. Maya Angelou kicks off the event.
Tuesday, May 7: Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times columnist, and novelist Anna Quindlen will host.
Thursday, June 27: Best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld, whose work has appeared in The Atlantic and Salon will lead the discussion.
The three-course luncheon begins at The Carlyle Restaurant at 12:30pm, then guests will move to Café Carlyle for the author discussion. Cost per event is $125 per person (inclusive of tax and gratuity) and includes the prix fixe menu, a glass of wine and a signed personalized copy of the author’s book.
For reservations call The Carlyle directly at 212-570-7109.
[Photo:Rosewood Hotels]
Hotel Design / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / Hotel Art / → All Tags
Giant 'Snow Wall' Proves Kempinski Dubai Thinks It's In the Alps
It's a known fact that Kempinski likes to do things big. Who got chosen as management for North Korea's most-famous-hotel-that's-never-opened, the Ryugyong Hotel? Kempinski. Whose property opened last month with the Dalai Lama's blessing? Kempinski.
Even when their employees are extorting money from guests' credit cards, they still manage to do it in style.
So it kinda makes sense that one of the brand's most iconic hotels, Kempinski Dubai Mall of the Emirates has decided to cement their renegade status by installing an 18 foot high "snow wall" along one side of Aspen, the hotel's cafe. As you can see in the above photo, the surface looks like it could be the lower strata of the iceberg that sank the Titanic, or possibly just some beautifully textured abstract wall art.
Not that the hotel is short on conversation pieces. The Middle East's first and largest indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai, is attached to the hotel; hence the 'snow' theme of the brand new installation. In fact, the snow wall's designers, London-based Solomon&Wu, built the shimmery wall out of glass-reinforced plastic in order to simulate "snow drifts and rock formations." Looks like they pulled it off.
Fantasy Friday / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Brunch / Hotel Breakfast / Le Meridien Hotels / → All Tags
Fantasy Friday: Le Meridien Serves World's Most Expensive Omelette
We've said it many a time, we're a dreamy lot here at HotelChatter, and part of our job is to help you escape daily life with a bit of travel fantasy. Today's enticing entry might be a bit do-able, though, something you could re-create at home! Ok, that's a stretch, but read on anyway!
Perfect for this weekend's breakfast and brunch plans, we've got The Most Expensive Omelette in the World, courtesy of Norma's restaurant at Le Parker Meridien Hotel. It's called the "Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata" and it costs a cool $1,000. The restaurant's tag line for this eggy-goodness is, "Norma dares you to expense this." Yep, for real. Now why does it cost so much? Simple, it's filled to the brim with a whole lobster and topped with 10 ounces of caviar. That's over $500 worth of fish eggs right there. The rest of the cost is for the lobster, eggs, cream, and herbs.
Obviously this omelette is mostly for show as the restaurant only sells about a dozen of them a year.
Hotel Restaurants / Gordon Ramsay / Hotel News / London Hotels / → All Tags
Claridge's Hotel Says Bye Bye To Gordon Ramsay
For the past twelve years, the restaurant at London's five-star Claridge's Hotel was known as "Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's." However, after announcing earlier this month that the restaurant is closing down this June, it is fair to say that, by this summer, "Gordon Ramsay" will most definitely not be "at," "near," or "in the vicinity of" Claridge's at all.
That's right: after over a decade, the Financial Express reports the hotel is parting ways with the blond-haired, blue-eyed kitchen nightmare once and for all, declaring it's time "for a new dining direction."
Fair enough. Hotels certainly have to keep things fresh, and one of the most visible ways to quickly size up a hotel is through its restaurant.
The hotel acknowledged Ramsay's contributions to its "gastronomic history," though didn't comment on whether poor reviews had anything to do with the decision.
Meanwhile, ol' Gordy ought to be keeping plenty busy, as it was revealed last month that his popular FOX show Hotel Hell is being renewed for a second season. So while he might be losing restaurants of his own, at least he'll be able to relieve the stress by yelling demoralizing things to poor, defenseless hoteliers. Ah, the circle of life.
For now though, if "Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's" has been on your bucket list for a while, you've got a little over two months left to hop over to London and give that famous beef Wellington a whirl. Save us some leftovers, will you?
Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Desserts / Boston Hotels / Palm Beach Hotels / Florida Hotels / W Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Celebrate Pi Day With These Delicious Hotel Pies
Today is Pi Day (3.14/Π) and if you need a quick geometry recap, that's the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi is abbreviated to 3.14 but continues indefinitely, to over 1.2 trillion digits, in fact. Basically, this is a math geek day of celebration (hey, the US House of Representatives officially supported the day's designation in 2009).
Naturally the hotel sector capitalizes on it too, by offering gimmicky deals. That's when our ears perk up--because we're not proud of those math grades of yesteryear, so this we can handle. Don't judge. We're sensitive.
The Charles Hotel in Boston says they’re “recognizing the great minds of Cambridge” by moving the decimal point one space and giving a 31.4% discount on room and suite reservations made today for any night from March 19 - April 2, 2013. Rates begin at $339. Book online or call 800-882-1818 with rate code PI2013.
There are five pizza pies on the BLT Bar & Grill menu at New York's W Downtown, and they're pretty fancy. But if you want to show your love of Pi and throw in a little salute to St. Patrick's Day to boot, go for the Brussels Sprouts Pizza, which has butternut squash, bacon, cippolini onions, and a copious amount of shaved green sprouts on the top. Festive!
Hotel Bars / Manhattan Hotels / Pod Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Design / → All Tags
5 Reasons To Make A Playdate At Pod 39's New 'Play Room'
Here's a first look at the new lobby bar and lounge area inside Pod 39. The venue is called Play Room and it's a huuuge space with a fireplace, two ping pong tables, color-coded bookshelves, a video projector, stained glass windows, and a 25-foot butcher block bar. Pretty much everything we look for in a hotel lobby hangout area.
Though the hotel debuted its rooftop bar back in September, it's taken this long for the street-level space to come together (sounds like they've got their priorities straight over at Pod!). But we think it was worth the wait. Pod Hotels put serious emphasis on socializing, so it makes sense that their public space would be so big and captivating—in many ways, more so than the first Pod hotel.
Here are our five favorite things about the new space:
Hotel Restaurants / Hyatt Hotels / LA Hotels / Hotel Gyms / → All Tags
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Launches 500-Calorie or Less Menu
To stay at a hotel that's literally across the street from CAA (one of the biggest talent agencies in the world), you're going to want to look good. This means fighting off Cinnabon (and french fries and pizza and bagel sandwiches). The easiest solution is simply walking downstairs to the Breeze restaurant.
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles just launched the Perfectly Portioned menu with meals that are 500 calories or less. And the options look delicious, like seared ahi salad and vegan mushroom risotto. Guests can also create their own meal with "my menu" options. Here, they choose a meat/fish/poultry and have it prepared whatever way they want with whatever sauce. They then add a pasta, a vegetable and a starch (these meal options are not all 500 calories or less, but hey, it's good enough for us).
While we're on the subject of health-minded food, the Hyatt Regency is also known for their stellar vegan options, and the chef even has aspirations of going full GMO free. Watch him speak about all the health-minded goods here. Oh, and did we mention the gym at Hyatt Regency Century Plaza is an Equinox? Talk about upscale urban detox resort. We feel fat just by thinking about it!
Room rates from $275.
[Photo: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza]
Hotel Screening Rooms / Hotel Movies / Boston Hotels / Hotel Events / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Do 'Dinner and a Movie' Right At Boston's The Revere
Boston's newest hotel, The Revere, is enticing guests with a new "dinner and a movie" program called "Reel Chefs" in which award-winning local chefs pair their favorite movies with a multi-course themed menu to match the film. Count us in!
To kick it off, Jamie Bissonnette, the head chef and owner of two top Beantown eateries, Coppa and Toro (not to be confused with Richard Sandoval's successful Toro Toro brand), will be showing up on March 19 to whip up four dishes he's calling "Pinxtos of Power," "Truffle Shuffle," "Chester Copperpot Pie," and "Rocky Road." And in case you didn't already guess, Bissonnette's movie of choice will be 80s cult classic The Goonies.
The best part of this new series? The venue. As we noted last year when the hotel was announced, The Revere is attached to Theatre 1, a state-of-the-art movie theater with ambient lighting, nifty projection and audio technology, and 225 super-comfy seats, each equipped with personal fold-out tray tables. Now, that's what we call dinner and a movie!
