The Tasting Panel magazine

February 2014

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february 2014 / the tasting panel / 91 These ties to history live throughout all of the Omni Parker House. The chandelier in the dining room is the original Waterford crystal and the wood is all original oak; guests can reserve the table where John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier (ask for table 40). Culinary history remains as well, and although the menu evolves, Chef Gerry Tice, who has been with the Omni Parker House since 2000, knows that some menu items are immovable. "You can't take the comfort food off the menu," he says. "People come in to experience where it all started." He's not just talking about the Boston cream pie but also the baked scrod (a term coined here, meaning small white ish of the day), the Jonah crab cake and the eggs Benedict on Boston brown bread. New Traditions So how does a hotel so steeped in history and tradition keep moving forward? Chef Tice works to develop dishes like his short rib and Vermont cheddar sandwich (one of the six winning recipes in the Omni Hotel Simply Street Food competition), which combines short ribs, Vermont cheddar, caramelized onions and arugula—all local ingredients and all inspired by New England farms. His next project is a Parker House Cookbook, which will update, reinterpret and recreate recipes from the hotel's historic menus recovered from events dating back to the 1800s. Meanwhile, tradition lives on with the impeccable service throughout the hotel, which harkens back to the early years of formality. This isn't surprising: The Omni Parker House has more employees that have worked there for over 30 years than any other hotel in the country. Chef Tice deinitely approves: "When I came to the Omni Parker House, I wanted to make sure that the dining room got back to the classics, which is why people come here—great food, great service, great story." The Last Hurrah When the hotel's bar, The Last Hurrah, moved from the basement to street level in 2000, they marked the occasion by creating a signature cocktail. The drink? A Boston Cream Pie Martini, of course, made with Baileys, chocolate liqueur and vanilla vodka. "Since then we have literally sold hundreds of thousands of them," says Frank Weber, the drink's creator and the man at the helm of The Last Hurrah. But Frank's passion lies in other areas of the bar, speciically the depth of its Scotch list. "We get an eclectic following of Scotch drinkers. They'll come in each time to see what I have that's new." With 70 Scotches on the list, he has a lot to offer his regulars, but for those who aren't looking for whisky, Frank continues to develop his cocktail list, including his Teatini, made with Earl Gray–infused Plymouth Gin, and his Basil-Lime Gimlet. More than anything, though, Frank is concerned with how happy the guests are at his bar. "I'm not a mixologist," he says; "I'd rather be a bartender. I'd rather have people say, 'That's the best time I've ever had.'" Another Side of Summer ◗ 1 oz. 40 Creek Canadian Whisky ◗ ½ oz. Leopold Bros. Tart Cherry Liqueur ◗ ½ oz. Gran Classico Bitter ◗ 1 oz. orange juice Seared Branzini is served whole.

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