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| Philadelphia, USA |
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Society
March - 2007 |
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6 Stars
& 6 Stripes
Overall - 'Hotel & Service' |
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The
Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and
Stripes® |
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| A seductive and alluring symbol stands in the
courtyard of
The
Rittenhouse Hotel in the form of an Evangelos Frudakis bronze statue of an
enchantress, gesturing as if to say ‘Welcome to all who seek
comfort!’ But unlike the Sirens of Greek mythology, this one offers to
make good on her promise of comfort, indulgence and pleasure in an environment
of magnificent cuisine and skilled service. At first glance after driving
through the historical city of Philadelphia, The Rittenhouse emerges as an
oasis of tranquility directly adjacent to a laid-back city park that could have
been lifted directly out of a Woody Allen movie. As if on cue from a symphony
conductor, I witnessed several individuals converging on the pristine park from
all directions. In musical sync the walkers seem to provide a strolling
concerto of sorts to myself and anyone else looking on from The Rittenhouse. As
my partner Thorsten and I pulled into the driveway and approached the
overhanging portico protecting the
entrance
to the hotel, we were set upon by a flurry of uniformed attendants greeting
us warmly and opening our doors. |
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| A handsome valet in a fur collared overcoat and
leather gloves ushered us through the main entrance, past smiling bellmen each
nodding their personal greeting to us. We were ushered onto an exquisite
Italian marble floor and guided gently until we reached
the
front desk. After a rather long ride from the Newark airport in which
Thorsten and I chatted our way past the correct exit on the NJ Turnpike, we
backtracked and finally made it to our destination at The Rittenhouse. There,
the front desk staff saluted us with a hospitable and warm buzzwords “Welcome
to our home”. A quick glance around the lobby produced a cozy feeling
of actually standing in the vestibule of a large stately mansion, which is
punctuated with delicate hand blown glass vases sinuously reaching for the
ceiling with their thin elongated necks. In a comfortable alcove just off the
front lobby, indirect rays of light emanate from the large French etched-glass
patio doors and further highlight the splashes of bright color that radiate
from the unique floral arrangements. “Flowers are an important feature in
making this Hotel feel more like you’re in someone’s home,” says
David Benton, the Vice President and General Manager of The Rittenhouse Hotel.
“It goes according to my master plan of providing a gracious, comfortable
setting for our guests as if they were part of our family”, he continues.
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| David
Benton has made his work at The Rittenhouse his true passion and he lives
and works sincerely by those well-spoken words. He is often seen adjacent to
the front desk during particularly heavy check-in days, staffing his
‘champagne’ station and greeting the incoming guests with a fluted
glass of bubbly and a cheerful “Welcome to our home.” It doesn’t
surprise the staff to see the great lengths he would go to in order to satisfy
any special requests and Mr. Benton empowers his team members to do the same
while leading by example. |
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| On a recent Friday night, a sudden snow and sleet
storm took Philadelphia by surprise and even the people at The Rittenhouse
seemed worried about the outcome of that day’s planned events. On the
agenda was an annual fundraiser planned for the Boathouse Row Bar in which they
expected three hundred guests and additionally a wedding party for another two
hundred. Of course, with the reality of the weather conditions looming, the
staff hurriedly prepared with every contingency imaginable but even so, there
is always the unforeseen. As evening approached, a phone call from a panicky
bride brought Mr. Benton to the rescue by actually driving over to her house in
his SUV to securely and safely deliver this precious cargo to the hotel for her
extra special event. Special solutions to issues that arise infrequently like
this lie imbedded deep within the fabric of each team member. This is what
makes The Rittenhouse shine above the average service oriented hotel; the
ability to think clearly and feel empowered to act on the issue at hand.
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| Upon checking in, the concierge informed us that the
time of our evening’s cuisine review in the Lacroix Restaurant, the
premier food venue at The Rittenhouse, was to be 8pm. That gave us exactly
thirty minutes to get into our room, unpack and . . . oops!, get my suit
pressed. It seemed that after spending three weeks traveling in Argentina
followed by a weekend at The Rittenhouse, my Hugo Boss suit was in desperate
need of some serious TLC. A panicky phone call to the concierge produced an
immediate response and the smartly pressed suit returned in precisely 22
minutes in the hands of smiling John, the Assistant Housekeeper. While I was
getting ready for dinner, I couldn’t help but notice some of the great
improvements that had been made at The Rittenhouse since the last time our
Seven Stars and Stripes reviewing team, led by our CEO Thorsten Buehrmann, came
here. |
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| The clock radio next to the bed was anything but the
mundane standard issue that most hotels are supplying as an amenity. In fact,
it was turned on when I walked into the room as someone had positioned it to a
jazz station, one of the eight pre-set music enhancers. I looked carefully to
see that it also had a convenient dock that could accommodate any size iPod
music player and be able to play it through its own ample speakers.
My
room, I was told, was a standard room except for the fact that when I
entered it resembled something more like a Jr. Suite. It was spacious and well
appointed with a comfortable couch and coffee table, elegant writer’s
table with ample drawer space and Hi-speed Internet cable network ready for
complimentary use. There was also the option of using the Wi-Fi enabled network
in the room or anywhere in the hotel as the entire Rittenhouse is now one giant
hot-spot. Lighting was subtle but designed with the hotel guest in mind, as it
seemed to be in exactly the spot you needed no matter where in the room you
decided to move. |
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The walls were
adorned with wall paper in subtle earth tones and decorated with lovely framed
works of art, including notable pieces commissioned from local Philadelphia
artists. I must have walked past the bed several times exploring my room before
I realized its especially large size. It occurred to me that perhaps the rather
ample size of the ‘Jr. Suite’ that was my standard room, did a good
job playing down the awesome size of this very inviting
sleeping
platform. I couldn’t resist and threw myself in a perfect
‘10’ frontal flop position onto the plush duvet covered bed and
thought I fell onto a pile of feathery light clouds. Later I discovered that
Mr. Benton himself, at a premium price no doubt, specifically chose these
mattresses to be the most comfortable ‘pillow-top’ variety.
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| A quick look at the clock radio woke me up to the
reality that I had to hurry along just to be on time for our dinner reservation
at Lacroix. I rushed into the bathroom to shave and turned on the neat little
flat screen TV next to the sink to catch a glimpse of the latest news on CNN.
The marble top sink basin bristled with amenities from Aromatherapy Associates
with intriguing names like ‘balance’, ‘revive’ and
‘relax’ for the conditioner, body wash and shampoo. I reached for the
bath towel and it unfurled as if I were hoisting a ceremonial flag and looked
around for a place to hang it while I showered. A convenient hook somewhere
near the spacious glass shower stall is in order here as I couldn’t hang
the towel near enough without getting it wet by draping it across the top of
the shower door. Terry slippers and a plush monogrammed robe awaited me for the
briefest of moments as I hurried to shave and get down to the Lacroix on time.
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| “The management had thought of everything ...” ~
JL |
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| The management had thought of everything, I thought as
I ran down the hall towards the bank of four elevators that would take me to
the restaurant level. I remembered that there was only about 98 rooms at The
Rittenhouse and with several elevators operating at all times there was never a
need to wait during the entire three days that we stayed there. On the way
down, a photo of Executive Chef Matthew Levin seemed to look my way in an
expression of welcome invoking a delightful anticipation of the culinary
demonstration to come. After exiting, I started in the direction of the
Lacroix, or so I thought. Apparently, I got off the elevator at the wrong floor
and an ever-alert concierge noticed my bobbing head passing one too many times
in front of him, kicking him into proactive gear to offer help. “I guess
I’m lost”, I said after which he pointed me in the right direction to
my destination. “I knew that!” I said humbly. |
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| Philadelphia - USA |
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Society
March
- 2007 |
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6 Stars
& 6 Stripes
Overall - 'Cuisine & Service' |
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The
Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and
Stripes® |
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| At first glance, it appeared that many of the patrons
of the Lacroix Restaurant the evening we dined were business types, chatting
away while sipping on oversized vodka martinis topped with olive triplets. The
conversation seemed lively and intimate at the same time, as Brodie the Maitre
‘d led us past several tables to our predetermined spot next to the large
picture window. Just beyond our table, we caught a glimpse of
Executive
Chef Matthew Levin, dressed in his spotless kitchen regalia, greeting some
of the guests as he strolled through the dining room. I could hear him sharing
one of his fine recipes with some diners as he passionately described in detail
the important nuances that would make this particular dish come out right if
they tried it at home. We remarked how approachable this culinary wizard of The
Rittenhouse seemed to be and noted the wonderful reaction of the guests to his
personal approach to the homespun dining experience. |
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| Our table at the Lacroix Restaurant overlooked the magnificent
Rittenhouse
Square, this time of year resembling a scene out of a Currier & Ives
calendar. Overall, the interior scene set the mood through impressive use of
indirect overhead lighting, soft tablecloth tones, large candles on each table
and lots of friendly smiles. Ed Wildman, Restaurant General Manager, introduced
himself and welcomed us to ‘our house’, the underlying theme repeated
often throughout our comfortable stay at The Rittenhouse. He dutifully noted
that Executive Chef Levin was in the process of preparing an ‘Amuse
Bouche’ for us and proceeded to describe the options to the tasting menu
that were available. |
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| There are possibilities of
choosing three to six courses when dining on the Lacroix tasting menu with the
appropriate wines that the Sommelier selects to accompany each course. There is
also the possibility to dine at the
Chef’s
Table directly under the lights in the magnificent show-kitchen. Be sure to
reserve in advance as this feature puts you right in the midst of things and
has all the spin of a reality show in the making. |
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| John
Lomitola & Matthew Levin |
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| Our comfort level now was impeccable after the swift
delivery of an apéritif of sparkling Cuvee Lacroix Blanc de Blancs,
Premier Cru by Paul Goerg for Thorsten and a Campari and orange juice for me.
Apéritifs are the traditional alcoholic drinks taken before a meal to
stimulate a person’s appetite and the Blanc de Blancs displayed a lemony,
slightly developed, well-structured character that accomplishes that goal. The
Lacroix Blanc de Blancs was re-poured, perfectly timed to the arrival of our
Amuse Bouche of Oysters Three-Way, Hamachi Sashimi, Edamame and Soy Yuzu Souce.
The marriage of shellfish and soy definitely allowed our taste buds to really
focus on the subtle, bone-dry flavor and hints of citrus of the Blanc de
Blancs. A very knowledgeable sommelier Eric Simonis, who hails from the Alsace
region of France, filled us in on the subtleties and appreciation of wine
tasting as related to food parings. “The basic concept of pairing wine and
food is to complement and enhance the aroma and flavors of both the food and
wine without either one overpowering the other”, said Eric. |
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| That said, Sommelier Eric slipped quietly away to
retrieve the next wine to pair with our second course of Frog Legs with Green
Curry Mango Soup. This interesting assemblage of ingredients promised fusing
the prevailing standard component in classical French cuisine with a South East
Asian staple. Typically, green curry paste is made by pounding in a mortar
ingredients including shallots, green chilies, garlic, galangal, fresh
turmeric, shrimp paste and salt, producing a unique color and spicy taste.
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Sommelier Eric returned with
his personal recommendation for wine to be Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc,
Domaine du Pere Caboche, Jean-Pierre Boisson, 2005. The wine does everything it
is meant to do in that it challenges the exotic spices of the green curry with
honey-laced aromatics typical of white Rhône. The palate becomes the
proving ground for exploring the luscious fruit, which is sufficiently laced
with tropical notes of pineapple and kiwi thus further harmonizing it with the
entrée. |
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| We stayed with the white Rhône hoping to savor
the velvet, soft acidity as the next course was presented as Wild Stripped Bass
with Uni. I was impressed with the texture of the pan-seared skin of the bass
as well as the juicy tender meat of the thick filet. This, combined with the
light yellow color of the uni (sea urchin roe) indicated a freshness factor
that produces a creamy consistent sweet taste. Some say eating raw sea urchin
uni can garner aphrodisiac qualities for that person. We savored this
possibility as long as we could before the arrival of the intermezzo of a
fluted glass of house made sorbetto, to cleanse our palates and get us ready
for the next course. |
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| Roasted Foie Gras with
Rhubarb Jam and Passion Fruit arrived at the table just in time for a new wine
from France, the Sauternes, Château Lafon, 2003. This wine will stand up
to the rich foie gras as it has a big, flamboyant, over the top style
displaying creamy honeysuckle and crème brulee notes. It has a
personality that is full-bodied and fat, low in acid with great residual sugar
and botrytis (noble rot). I felt like indulging and went sip for sip with every
bite of the foie gras followed by the rhubarb compote and powerful acidic
passion fruit. I couldn’t conceal my guilt! |
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| We couldn’t help but notice that upon returning
from the bathroom, Brodie the Maitre d’ had refolded Thorsten’s
napkin and placed it on the table. The time was right for Eric the Sommelier to
present the Taja, Gran Reserva, Jumilla, Spain 1998 in time for the next course
of Whole Roasted Squab with Wild Blueberries. Along with that a special order
of Zubaton of Kobe Beef, Garlic Mousse in Merlot Wine Sauce was presented for
scrutiny. The intense climate of the Jumilla region results in wines that are
intensely ripe and fruity. Gran Reserva indicates that this is a wine of very
good quality, which is aged for at least two years in oak cask followed by a
minimum of three years in bottle. It is very smooth, with dark fruits, a jammy
taste and it has a decently long finish. The wine went well with the
ultra-tender massage pampered beef. |
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| A long night was about to come to an end with the trio
of desserts ascending to the table paired with a Banyuls, Grenache Noir, Clos
de Paulilles, Languedoc-Roussillon, 2003. These handcrafted desserts included
Cherry Vanilla Soda with Coconut Ice Cream, Lime Gelee and Verbena Rocks as
well as La Tarte au Chocolat with Sweet & Sour Cherries, Triple Caramel
Cream and Apricot, my personal favorite. |
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The wine was sherry-like and
had flavors reminiscent of tawny port with orange and grapefruit. Just when we
thought it was time to retire to the bar, coffee and petits fours appeared in
the form of the ever present French press-pot and the wonderful chocolate
delights that we were told are available for sale in gift boxes branded with
the Lacroix logo. Another classic touch in this wonderful place! |
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“We were fortunate to have gotten to know 34-year-old Chef
Matthew Levin, a graduate from
the CIA who was chosen to carry on Jean Marie
Lacroix’s legacy after his retirement.” JL |
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| 2007 Seven
Stars and Stripers® - Award-Hand-Out Lacroix Restaurant - Philadelphia,
USA |
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| It was quite late now and the experience of dining at
Lacroix was still fresh in my thoughts. Sleep meant more to me now than
anything and tomorrow promised to be another action packed day. We had
scheduled a
chocolate
making session with Executive Pastry Chef Fred Ortega after breakfast.
Later in the day a tour of the renowned Adolf Biecker Spa and Salon after which
Mr. Benton offered to escort us on a whirlwind tour of the ‘ethnic food
markets’ of Philadelphia for a taste of its distinct neighborhoods, each
offering a unique blend of culture and attractions. |
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| With all that circulating in
my mind I decided to head for the ‘pillow-top’ bed awaiting me in my
room expecting to sink into oblivion. I quietly stepped into the room and
discovered that once again someone had set the clock radio to a low volume
music station, this time mellifluous and gentle. It seemed very conducive to a
good night’s sleep and so I left it playing as I got into bed.
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The bed was turned down and a
tiny little bag with rope handles and Restaurant Lacroix logo was sitting on
the night table next to the bed. I opened the bag to discover a hand-wrapped
square of chocolate in it and quickly made short work of it. It was rich and
sensuous and made me think immediately of the quote from an unknown author,
“I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may
not be true, but do I dare take the chance?” And so it was, I slept like a
child. |
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| Morning came quickly with lingering thoughts of the
fine cuisine display that Executive Chef Matthew Levin put on last night and
yes, the delicate, sublime morsel of chocolate that prepared me for my deep and
restful sleep. My recollection upon check-in was that my favorite newspaper
would be waiting for me on the handle of my door. Sure enough, the New York
Times as well as the USA Today was delivered and while leafing through the
Times I dressed and got ready to meet my partner Thorsten in the restaurant for
breakfast. The Lacroix has a different look for breakfast. Daylight filtered in
through large windows adding depth and character to the feeling of dining in a
royal household. A buffet was set up near the window although it was
thoughtfully broken up into additional sections that further enhanced the
feeling of sampling food at an elegant social event. Thorsten was fascinated by
the fact that there were two variations of the bacon and sausage offering both
regular and turkey varieties. “It’s all about choices”, I
uttered as I helped myself to smoked salmon with all the trimmings. Breads and
Danishes abounded and of course, there were plenty of scrambled eggs, offered
in small batches and replenished often in a successful effort to keep them warm
and fresh. Upon returning to our table, our server poured hot coffee prepared
in a French Press Pot. This was by far one of the best ways to serve coffee as
it displays the delicate flavor profile of the coffee without allowing the
aroma to degrade over time by sitting on a hot plate. “Fresh squeezed
juice, gentlemen?” was the offer from the server and we accepted OJ for
me, while Thorsten of course, had to have his mixed half and half with
Grapefruit. “It’s all about choices, Jonny,” he countered.
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| We had to hurry now as our
10:15am ‘chocolate making’ demonstration with
Pastry
Chef Fred Ortega was looming closer and we were still on coffee. When we
met Chef Fred briefly the day before, he spoke to us kindly about taking us
step by step through the chocolate making process. Under the direct
encouragement of Executive Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix, the leader of the
Philadelphia culinary scene for over two decades, Chef Fred cut loose with his
imagination and began to develop the unique style of his chocolate making
empire. |
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| An illustration of his exceptional abilities came to
us in the form of a welcoming display in our rooms of
white
and dark chocolate covered tuxedo-clad strawberries on a tray made to
resemble our coveted Seven Stars and Stripes Award plaque that had been
presented to The Rittenhouse the previous year. We entered Chef Fred’s
chocolate making domain and couldn’t help but notice his high-tech
chocolate conveyor belt, the mechanical centerpiece unit that makes all his
fanciful ideas a reality. Chef Fred surrounds himself with hundreds of foil
bags of various chocolates from all over the world each of which contains
different percentages of cocoa butter and unique flavor profiles indigenous to
the countries where it was grown. |
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“These
are my raw materials”, he started “that give me the flexibility
to make just about any chocolate creation that I can dream about”. I asked
him if the government had any plans to make chocolate a new food group in the
official ‘nutrition pyramid’, hoping that my deepest desire would
come true. “There is no evidence of that, but milk chocolate may as well
be considered a dairy product” he answered with a wink and handed me an
apron and overcoat to prepare me in becoming his assistant for while. Enough
said! |
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| Chef Fred cranked up the conveyor belt now and melted
chocolate began pouring over it as it spun round and round. The liquid
chocolate cascaded continuously like a waterfall and I had the most awful time
resisting the urge to stick my finger under it for a little instant
gratification. Chef Fred positioned me at the end of the conveyor belt with the
instructions that I should “Pull the wax paper at the exact speed of the
belt as the chocolate squares come off of it”. I tried it in a practice
run before any of the square pieces of chocolate could potentially be wasted by
my uncoordinated awkwardness. |
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| “OK, here goes!” was the battle cry as Chef
Fred began to quickly place chocolate squares on the conveyor belt one by one.
In reality, the conveyor belt seemed to be moving much faster with the
chocolate squares than before during the dry run. As they approached the
waterfall of liquid chocolate, I imagined lying there myself in the supine
position, smiling in glorious anticipation of
entering
chocolate nirvana. Back to reality! The first of the chocolates now exited
the waterfall and they were moving really fast, so it was time to put on my
‘game face’ and not let my coach down. |
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I
pulled the paper up to speed in order to catch the chocolates, they began
piling up too close to each other. I glanced up to see if Chef Fred was
watching me as I considered the Lucy solution during her scene in the episode
“ The Candy Factory” and eat all the chocolates to hide my mistakes.
Chef to the rescue; he quickly slid over to separate the piled-up chocolate
with a knife thereby saving them for the final step of applying the decorative
covering. All of Chef Fred Ortega’s chocolate creations are available for
sale in gift boxes at The Rittenhouse and many of his desserts and pastries
appear on the Lacroix daily menus. |
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| GM Benton popped into the pastry shop to remind us
that we were scheduled for a walk through the
Adolf
Biecker Spa and Salon with the charming spa manager Monique Bertsch. As we
gathered our thoughts in an effort to shift from luscious chocolate to luscious
body treatments, we couldn’t help but see the obvious connection between
‘body and mind wellness’ at The Rittenhouse. Mr. Benton escorted us
to the multifaceted spa by way of the incredibly popular Adolf Biecker Salon.
There in front of our eyes was a salon filled to the brim with ladies in every
conceivable form of treatment happily chatting away while undergoing hair, nail
and facial beauty treatments. |
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It seems that much of the
business in the salon comes not only from the hotel itself but also from the
Philadelphia community of faithful customers that would probably travel to
another state because of their loyalty to the
Biecker
Salon. The salon uses Aveda all-natural products, which are plant-based
using only organic components focusing on ‘soil to bottle’ ethical
and traceable ingredients. I could see how happy GM Benton was in seeing the
flurry of activity in his flagship wellness and beauty center. |
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| We were shown to the treatment and fitness areas by
Ms. Monique who explained that the tradition of exceptional customer service in
the spa spans a period of more than 60 years. The continuous
upgrading
of the facilities and improvements made to the list of therapies is
foremost in the minds of management. “We have to stay ahead of the curve
in this business without the loss of the sensitive personal touch”, she
said as she led us through to the pool. How poignant, I thought and asked to be
able to sample one of the body treatments for Thorsten and I the next day. And
so it was that Thorsten and I were booked for one hour Swedish massages on the
following day. We finished our little tour with a brief stop in the
‘siesta’ room for some fresh brewed Ayurvedic tea. |
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| Mr. Benton had planned the
afternoon for us to see the major cultural and ethnic centers and
markets
around the city and offered to take us on the excursion with The
Rittenhouse limo and driver. We left for our whirlwind tour in the midst of a
light rain but pushed on to experience the unique character that contributed to
building the city of Philadelphia. The Rittenhouse is centrally located so that
most of the major historical attractions including the Merriam Theater, The
Academy of Vocal Arts and the Liberty Bell are with easy taxi access. The
Battleship New Jersey lies moored nearby on the Delaware River and is
conveniently located adjacent to an aquarium while the Academy of Music, the
Pennsylvania Ballet and the Center for the Performing Arts are all within
walking distance of six or seven blocks. |
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| We were now approaching the famous area where the
origin of Philadelphia’s most famous culinary treat is still a hotly
debated topic, the
Philly
Cheese Steak sandwich! (A sandwich made with thin slices of beef topped
with cheese and other condiments and served on a crisp Italian-style roll.)
Most agree the birth of Philly's cheese steak took place at Pat's King of
Steaks with his famous rival Gino’s across the street in the Italian
immigrant section of South Philadelphia in 1930. From there it escalated into
full fledged war of words as to who could claim the title of the best version
in all of Philadelphia. We set out to determine this exact distinction with our
own un-scientific battle of the taste buds. Mr. Benton asked his driver to head
down to the
Reading
Terminal Market for the our ultimate cultural cuisine experience.
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The
Reading Terminal Market has a plethora of merchants hawking every
conceivable food item from hundreds of exotic corners of the world. In one
corner a shop with a thousand
different
teas; another,
cheeses;
still another sells artisan style comfitures from the
Amish
country; next a multi-hued flower market and on and on. Our determined
guide Mr. Benton, led us past all those interesting kiosks, my mind begging to
pause at each for a while, as he single-mindedly sought out the very place that
he had envisioned as the right place for our
Philly
Cheese Steak tasting event, Rick’s Philly Steaks. |
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| Their premier location at the entrance to the market
supports its popularity amongst the population of market goers. However, the
sandwich has to be awesome too as the crowd in Philadelphia has been known to
be a very critical lot. Led by Mr. Benton, we fought our way into the line of
hungry pilgrims all waiting to pay homage to
Rick’s.
After muscling our way forward, we retreated with two incredibly long open
Italian style hoagies, loaded with thinly sliced roast beef, folded
serviette-like and topped with more than a days worth of gooey melted cheese.
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| Thorsten (the German) watched
as Mr. Benton demonstrated the proper etiquette for a first attempt at taking a
suitable bite out of this ‘Rocky-fisted’ sandwich. The results after
the first taste proved positive and the two sandwich kings made quick work of
their fine creation. |
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| We headed back to The Rittenhouse now to prepare for
an evening dining experience at the
Chef’s
Table with Mr. and Mrs. David Benton and Thorsten and I in the kitchen of
Lacroix under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Matthew Levin and his team.
This will prove to be the utmost in ‘reality shows’ with a seat
center stage in a busy, creative and efficient working kitchen, watching them
perform on-the-fly and unrehearsed. As we passed through the lobby on our way
back to our rooms, a quick glance off to the left of the elevators offered a
vision of dignified elegance in the form of an area near some rather large
French doors. This space had been prepared for ‘Afternoon
Tea in the Cassatt Tea Room & Garden´ for any guest that happens
to be wandering through and in need of a little pick-me-up,
Rittenhouse-style! |
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| We were drawn over to a server from Senegal with a
genuine smile named Fara and his sincere partner from France, Nicole. They
implored us to sit down and allow them to prepare ‘high tea’ for us.
We objected due to the recent Philly Cheese Steak belly whopper that was still
on its way to the bottom but to no avail. Fara and Nicole proceeded to bring
out ‘The
Rittenhouse Signature Tea’, which includes tiny little tea sandwiches,
freshly baked currant scones with strawberry preserves, lemon curd, Devonshire
cream and a savory selection of tarts, pastries and of course tea. |
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I was afraid to ask the
obvious question, but I did anyway. “What kind of tea do you have?” I
asked Fara, to which he answered by dutifully presenting a detailed list of the
twelve Rittenhouse Specialty Blends and their descriptive flavor profiles.
“It’s all about choice” he said when I asked why there were so
many selections. I saw that Thorsten was drawing the same parallel as I was
about the similarities of tea tasting to wine tasting as he lifted his teacup
and quaffed his tea in a long deep sip. “Tea is getting to be big business
in this country” he finally shared with me. |
|
|
| It was 7pm and time to meet at the
Chef’s
Table to have dinner with our host Mr. David Benton and his wife Ilyce
Benton. Our special table is located next to the very organized
‘line’ that serves as a staging area for plate decoration and
presentation right before a dish goes out to the restaurant guest. All dishes
are scrutinized by many of the kitchen crew before
Executive
Chef Levin makes the final determination or adjustments. “Nothing
leaves this kitchen unless it is certifiably perfect” we could hear Chef
Levin uttering as he mentored one of his interns from the Culinary Institute of
America. |
|
|
|
|
| GM Benton informed us that guests of The Rittenhouse
or Lacroix Restaurant can actually reserve the
Chef’s
Table for their own dining experience with parties of two to seven. I found
it to be exhilarating to dine on such creative cuisine while watching a true
master of his art at work with his dedicated team of professionals. All our
menu items were uniquely selected by
Executive
Chef Levin and then artfully paired with some of the finest wines available
in the wine cellars of The Rittenhouse, by sommelier Eric Simonis. |
|
 |
|
| 2007 Seven
Stars and Stripers® - Award-Hand-Out at The Rittenhouse - Philadelphia,
USA |
|
|
| We are truly grateful to our host
GM
David Benton and his team of specialists in the business of pleasing the
public, that have banded together to provide the utmost in luxury, exquisite
service and hospitality for an indisputable world-class experience at The
Rittenhouse. |
|
|
|
|
by
John Lomitola & Thorsten Buehrmann
Editor: John
Lomitola
Editor-in-Chief: Ingrid Lemme |
|
| © 2007 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes, Inc. |
|
