The Belvedere

The Belvedere Review

In the entertainment industry's A-list hotel, the Peninsula, you're sure to be rubbing elbows with power brokers. The refined cooking here elevates the opulent Belvedere far above the usual hotel dining room. You may want to start with the signature house-smoked salmon with scallion pancakes, chive crème fraîche, and caviar, then indulge in osso bucco, Kansas City strip steak, or grilled Alaskan halibut with pomegranate gastrique. At lunch, deal makers convene over whimsical small bites (e.g., tuna and hamachi lollipops with mango-sesame sauce), salads, and "glamburgers" like sautéed salmon with pinot noir-cured onions. Of course, the execs who favor this place are prone to special ordering—and the staff graciously obliges.