If you have ever stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, you understand why it’s the only place to stay in Chicago for a certain variety of tourist. And it would probably not surprise you to know that you can throw a pretty swanky party there.
Last week hotel management invited a few hundred locals to an event, ostensibly to announce the seasonal opening of its outdoor space [enabling the legitimate use of the name “Shanghai Terrace” for its Chinese restaurant.] Actually, it was meant to deliver a message: that you, too, can enjoy the splendors of the Peninsula even if you are not a visiting mogul or movie star. Like so many similar indulgences, all it takes is money.
You might know that the Peninsula has been named the favorite hotel in America by Zagat’s raters three times in the last four years. The rooms are beautiful and the bend-over-backwards-to-please-you service feels like another century and another continent.
The terrace itself — on the fourth level facing Michigan Avenue [it’s actually above Pottery Barn] — is a great place to experience the archetypal urban canyon effect, particularly because you don’t see the street, just the sides of the buildings.
You can eat outside at the Shanghai Terrace from June through October, but the real point of this event was to let the restaurant kitchen [which services four other restaurants on the premises plus the catering operation] show off what it can do. And it can do a lot. Among the hors d’ouevres, many served as single bites in ceramic spoons: asparagus salad, ceviche, salmon bon bons, beet tartar, cucumber cups, roasted hearts of palm. Then, on to teeny servings of frozen confections in trendy savory flavors — heirloom tomato sorbet in a black pepper cone; red curry thai basil ice cream in a sesame cone — as palate cleansers.
In the ballroom were long lines at the sushi and dim sum stations, and to the amusement of some [and the annoyance of others], entertainment was provided by the kind of life-statue-mime performers that you see wandering around the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, outside on the Terrace, the food parade continued: lamb carpaccio, Asian duck salad, seared tuna, grilled squab, and two varieties of foie gras. And a stellar collection of bite-sized desserts : creme brulee, pots de creme, lemon mousseline tarragon marshmallows, orange macaroons. Then, another odd diversion: a stiltwalker covered in artificial greenery who was meant to look like topiary. Even giving her the benefit of the doubt, you could sense that some of the crowd found her presence a little creepy.
While most of these fabulous eats aren’t available on the menu at any of the Peninsula’s restaurants [you could certainly order them if you host an event there], the hotel is offering what it calls a “Culinary Journey Around the Peninsula,” where you go to each of the hotel’s restaurants for one course of a meal, beginning with appetizers at the Bar and ending with chocolate in the Lobby. It’s $155 per person, and you’ve got to have a party of 4-6. [Gratuity and tax are included, but if you want some animated topiary, you’ll have to make special arrangements.]