I have been coming to New York for work trips basically every other week for the past two years and for some reason have never eaten at my hotel's restaurant. To be sure, I have ordered room service from the hotel, but otherwise always felt compelled to go out to one of the many fabulous restaurants in Manhattan each time I had the energy to get up and move after a 12 hour day of work. Thursday night, I had plans to visit friends in their Brooklyn apartment for what sounded like an amazing dinner of sausage and peppers. On my way to catch a cab, however, I suddenly found myself in the midst of a full-out downpour, along with strong gusts of wind that threatened to blow my Baked by Melissa cupcakes that I had picked up along the way out of my hands! It was a serious surprise to be confronted with a storm that drenched my clothes in five minutes. So, I retreated back to my hotel to place a sad call to my friends saying that I didn't think I could make it. Catching a cab on Broadway in Times Square after office hours is a challenge enough, but add rain and the task becomes mission:impossible.
After training a hair dryer on my clothing for a solid half hour, I ventured down to the hotel bar to grab some dinner. The bar was filled with people, so I instead seated myself on the other side of the open room, for the first time, in the Restaurant Above dining area. The noise was slightly overwhelming, but I was enjoying people watching and noise sometimes makes me feel less self-conscious about eating solo. The Hilton Times Square is always busily occupied with people on business, people visiting on vacation, and people hoping to get a part in a Broadway show, so people watching there is especially entertaining. Last time I was there I saw two men in line to talk to the hotel staff: one was wearing sweatpants and a dirty t-shirt on his way to bed, the other was in a tuxedo as though he just was about to go out on the town. It is an interesting juxtaposition.
Anyway, the menu changes weekly and is relatively limited, but I found a sweet potato soup with curried crab that sounded promising and a seared salmon with mushroom risotto and some sort of avocado glaze that immediately sounded like a perfect dish to warm up on a stormy night.
The seared salmon on the other hand was absolutely fantastic! Complete with cremini mushrooms, squash and avocado glaze with a bit of cilantro, this dish was incredible.
I am not going to go into detail about the intertwining of earthy flavors of cremini, squash, avocado and just a touch of cilantro with the creamy risotto and fresh salmon that was perfectly seared due to my total lack of appropriate language for describing it, but I will say that this meal reminded me of two things:
1. I love cremini mushrooms. They are earthy butter. Silky smooth. Wonderfully mushroom-y. I promptly ordered a crate of them from Arganica for my Sunday order. I have something in mind that I will use them for, but will keep you updated.
2. I think God created avocado and said "this is good, but it would be better with this" and created cilantro. They were created to be together, I think. Cilantro enhances and deepens the flavor of avocados in a way that little else does. Both of these things are fine on their own, too...it just seems that more likely than not you will find them together. And for good reason. They work.
There are so many good places to eat in New York that I don't feel like I can really recommend going out of your way to eat at Restaurant Above in the Hilton Times Square, but, if you are staying at the hotel and suddenly find yourself in need of a fantastic dinner in the middle of a freak storm, the Restaurant Above won't let you down.
