Inside out
Pasadena Hilton adds fine al fresco patio dining to its many amenities
By Dan O'Heron 08/12/2010
It was 2 p.m. and the new Patio 168 restaurant in the Pasadena Hilton was closing for lunch, but, at the risk of being a bad guest and overstaying, I ordered another drink.
It was sweltering in midtown Pasadena, but the patio — an intimate courtyard extension of the lobby’s 168 Grill Bar — is enclosed by two large, leafy shade trees that diffused the sun and protected me from its rays.
At the same time, an airy zephyr of a breeze tousled the treetops. Facilitated by a downdraft from a patio wall — actually the side of the building that stretches to the 14th floor — it kept beads off my brow. More than a patio, especially with a cool blue Curacao rummy in hand, it was like Eden.
As always, coming to this hotel for either dining, drinking or sitting on a bed and watching TV is the kind of rewarding experience that is hard to let go. Compared to fine hotels in Pasadena,
I warm more to the personality of the Hilton than the others.
Visiting the beautiful Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa, for example, is as foreboding for me as it is for a peon to walk into the Palace of Versailles. I always feel the need to brush off my best suit before sitting down in a royal drawing room chair.
But entering the Hilton the other day, I spotted a comfortable chair and a familiar face and sat down — without qualms — to have a drink.
The Hilton may not throw away money on decorating, but it takes good care of personal adornments, like maintaining fine service from people you come to count on to be there.
I talked about old where-are-they-now times with bartender Fernando Andrade and asked about the health of the other bartender, Efren Manansala. Both men have served the hotel for more than 20 years.
Later, without a maitre d’ to lead me like I was an idiot a few steps through the room to Patio 168, the patio door was opened by Jose Diaz, a waiter at the Hilton since 1975. Chatting with Jose confirmed my notion that while quality of food and drink might open the door to a fine restaurant, quite often it’s the staff that detain and return me — the singer and not the song, as it were.
Luckily, with the food and ambiance at Patio 168, I nailed the trifecta.
While there was a lot of gawking and gasping recently at the hotel’s annual Bead & Design Show, the pick of the glitter may have been displayed in Executive Chef Fernando Delgado’s kitchen by his creation of an ahi martini appetizer. Picture a glass —not a small martini glass, but one more the size of a magnum wine goblet — layered with generously portioned cubes of ahi tuna, pale green avocado and golden mango, topped with emerald sprouts of micro-wasabi, surprisingly delicately flavored when compared with the fiery paste they produce. Plus, to chip away at the eye-filling dish, copper-toned ravels of deep fried taro, shaved each morning in the kitchen from the purple-tinged flesh of fresh roots. At $12, this extra-delicious serving belied any bad thoughts I may have harbored over contrived, over-priced restaurant appetizers typically served in hotels of lesser status.
Delgado’s quality should not surprise, as his cooking resume is starred with stints at many of Southern California’s better hotels, including the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles and the Sheraton Cerritos, where he aimed to please finicky crowds from the nearby Performing Arts Theatre.
While Delgado’s continental/California menu will feature new entries weekly, I hope that the $9 Portobello mushroom appetizer remains a regular item. Grilled in such a way as to enrich the flavor and create a dense, meaty taste, the long, flat cap is made more delectable by a stuffing of contrasting flavors like salty Italian bacon and rich, sweet, nutty Gruyere, plus onions, all served over a bed of mixed greens with a drizzle of sherry vinaigrette.
My hope is that future Delgado salads are as good as opening-week wonders like the $13 jerk chicken papaya and the $16 seared salmon. And, it’s a given that big eaters will continue to request the $22 grilled filet mignon, slathered with a Jack Daniel’s reduction and sided with asparagus spears and truffle mash.
Another special I hope will be etched on the summer menu is a musky, Yucatecan-style, achiote seed-marinated chicken breast sandwich, served with chilled potato leek soup, for $9.
While Patio 168 is a natural place for attorneys in the building next door to bring and impress their clients, it also serves as a special-occasion al fresco lunch spot for an office worker to treat a special office mate. Like an old pal, the hotel and its restaurant wears well.
It was sweltering in midtown Pasadena, but the patio — an intimate courtyard extension of the lobby’s 168 Grill Bar — is enclosed by two large, leafy shade trees that diffused the sun and protected me from its rays.
At the same time, an airy zephyr of a breeze tousled the treetops. Facilitated by a downdraft from a patio wall — actually the side of the building that stretches to the 14th floor — it kept beads off my brow. More than a patio, especially with a cool blue Curacao rummy in hand, it was like Eden.
As always, coming to this hotel for either dining, drinking or sitting on a bed and watching TV is the kind of rewarding experience that is hard to let go. Compared to fine hotels in Pasadena,
I warm more to the personality of the Hilton than the others.
Visiting the beautiful Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa, for example, is as foreboding for me as it is for a peon to walk into the Palace of Versailles. I always feel the need to brush off my best suit before sitting down in a royal drawing room chair.
But entering the Hilton the other day, I spotted a comfortable chair and a familiar face and sat down — without qualms — to have a drink.
The Hilton may not throw away money on decorating, but it takes good care of personal adornments, like maintaining fine service from people you come to count on to be there.
I talked about old where-are-they-now times with bartender Fernando Andrade and asked about the health of the other bartender, Efren Manansala. Both men have served the hotel for more than 20 years.
Later, without a maitre d’ to lead me like I was an idiot a few steps through the room to Patio 168, the patio door was opened by Jose Diaz, a waiter at the Hilton since 1975. Chatting with Jose confirmed my notion that while quality of food and drink might open the door to a fine restaurant, quite often it’s the staff that detain and return me — the singer and not the song, as it were.
Luckily, with the food and ambiance at Patio 168, I nailed the trifecta.
While there was a lot of gawking and gasping recently at the hotel’s annual Bead & Design Show, the pick of the glitter may have been displayed in Executive Chef Fernando Delgado’s kitchen by his creation of an ahi martini appetizer. Picture a glass —not a small martini glass, but one more the size of a magnum wine goblet — layered with generously portioned cubes of ahi tuna, pale green avocado and golden mango, topped with emerald sprouts of micro-wasabi, surprisingly delicately flavored when compared with the fiery paste they produce. Plus, to chip away at the eye-filling dish, copper-toned ravels of deep fried taro, shaved each morning in the kitchen from the purple-tinged flesh of fresh roots. At $12, this extra-delicious serving belied any bad thoughts I may have harbored over contrived, over-priced restaurant appetizers typically served in hotels of lesser status.
Delgado’s quality should not surprise, as his cooking resume is starred with stints at many of Southern California’s better hotels, including the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles and the Sheraton Cerritos, where he aimed to please finicky crowds from the nearby Performing Arts Theatre.
While Delgado’s continental/California menu will feature new entries weekly, I hope that the $9 Portobello mushroom appetizer remains a regular item. Grilled in such a way as to enrich the flavor and create a dense, meaty taste, the long, flat cap is made more delectable by a stuffing of contrasting flavors like salty Italian bacon and rich, sweet, nutty Gruyere, plus onions, all served over a bed of mixed greens with a drizzle of sherry vinaigrette.
My hope is that future Delgado salads are as good as opening-week wonders like the $13 jerk chicken papaya and the $16 seared salmon. And, it’s a given that big eaters will continue to request the $22 grilled filet mignon, slathered with a Jack Daniel’s reduction and sided with asparagus spears and truffle mash.
Another special I hope will be etched on the summer menu is a musky, Yucatecan-style, achiote seed-marinated chicken breast sandwich, served with chilled potato leek soup, for $9.
While Patio 168 is a natural place for attorneys in the building next door to bring and impress their clients, it also serves as a special-occasion al fresco lunch spot for an office worker to treat a special office mate. Like an old pal, the hotel and its restaurant wears well.
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