Long gone are the days of forgettable room service. With star chefs opening newsworthy restaurants in hotels across the country, there’s more reason than ever to have breakfast (and, heck, why not lunch and dinner?) in bed. Out with soggy Caesar salads and overdone burgers; bring on Cambodian noodle soup, mile-high biscuit sandwiches, buckets of fried chicken and big batches of old-fashioneds. Staying in has never been so much fun.
Coffee Granola
The Standard, West Hollywood, CA
Angelenos were overjoyed last year when Ari Taymor brought Alma restaurant back to life in this jet-age throwback on the Sunset Strip. The chef’s in-room menu—with dishes like housemade granola and crushed cabbage and avocado salad—delivers Alma-style favorites right to your door. “I wanted to elevate the food you’d eat at home, even though you’re far from it,” Taymor says.
Go to recipeButter-Poached Lobster Rolls with Spicy Sauce
The Diplomat Beach Resort, Hollywood, FL
A lobster roll is exactly what you crave when you’re relaxing on your private terrace at the recently refurbished Diplomat resort, watching the waves crash on Hollywood Beach. But any old version won’t do: At Point Royal, which just opened beachside, Geoffrey Zakarian’s has insanely tender meat that’s poached in butter and served on toasted brioche buns, making it truly decadent. Go ahead, make it a double order.
Go to recipeKnife-and-Fork Grilled Cheese with Honey
Las Alcobas, St. Helena, CA
You can order this OMG grilled cheese, filled with gooey Taleggio and topped with honey and flaky salt, at Chris Cosentino’s new restaurant, Acacia House, in the dreamy Las Alcobas hotel—but eating it in your robe feels like the ultimate luxury. “Each room has a balcony overlooking vineyards and mountainscapes,” says the chef. “Since you have the unbeatable view, why not have a beer and the best grilled cheese of your life while you’re at it?”
Go to recipeCambodian Breakfast Noodles
The Line, Washington, DC
If the a.m. scene at Erik Bruner-Yang’s restaurant in the lobby of this new DC hotel is too much, never fear: You can have your loose-leaf Taiwanese tea and hearty Cambodian breakfast noodle soup delivered to your room. Bonus: You can also order specialty dishes from a rotating cast of visiting chefs, like Edward Lee and Pichet Ong.
Go to recipeSticky Coconut-Rice Bread
Hotel 50 Bowery, New York City
The old adage that certain foods don’t travel well is a cop-out. At Rice & Gold, Dale Talde’s soon-to-open restaurant in this new Asian-inspired hotel, everything on the menu—whether it’s scallion pancakes or buttermilk pancakes, sticky coconut-rice bread or rice noodles—is available to be delivered and designed to arrive piping-hot and delicious.
Go to recipeGas Station Fried Chicken
21c Museum Hotel, Nashville
Sure, there’s a fantastic restaurant at the newly opened 21c hotel in the historic, art-filled Gray & Dudley building downtown, but chef Levon Wallace is happy to send the party to your suite. Invite friends over for big-batch cocktail carts, buckets of fried-to-order chicken and pints of house-churned ice cream with toppings for a sundae bar.
Go to recipeThin Spaghetti with Crab and Asparagus
Ace Hotel, New Orleans
Not only can you order to your room the pastas Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer are serving at Josephine Estelle, their new osteria in the Ace Hotel, but you can also fix yourself a proper cocktail—the minibars are stocked with bitters, fresh fruit and other essentials. Dishes change seasonally; right now there’s pasta with Gulf crabmeat and asparagus. “There’s nothing like digging into a bowl of comforting spaghetti in bed,” Hudman says.
Go to recipeStrawberry Baked Alaska
The Durham Hotel, Durham, North Carolina
Even if you’ve booked a table for dinner at The Durham, chef Andrea Reusing’s restaurant in the hotel, consider having this meringue-topped baked Alaska with housemade strawberry ice cream sent up to your room for dessert. While you’re at it, ask for the snack board, piled high with spicy red-skinned peanuts, chicharrones and roasted pecan-chocolate toffee. All of it will hit the spot when those late-night cravings strike.
Go to recipeBeaten Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich with Tomato Jam
Chef Marcus Samuelsson makes incredible biscuits, adding a little bit of nutty brown butter to amp up the flavor. He serves them warm, spread with tangy-sweet tomato jam, fried ham and perfectly scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese.
Go to recipeGiant Chicken Parmesan
Kimpton Glover Park Hotel, Washington, DC
“Life is too short for cookie-cutter,” says Michael Schlow, whose in-room menu from Casolare, his new coastal Italian restaurant in the recently renovated Kimpton Glover Park Hotel, is anything but. “Room service should be a treat,” the chef says, “something surprising and truly decadent.” Case in point: this outsize chicken Parm, made of seasoned chicken breasts pounded flat, fried with breadcrumbs, and topped with sauce and melted cheese. Cut into slices, it easily feeds a crowd.
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