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Get Breaking News on your cellSneak peek at new Mansion restaurant
10:00 AM Wed, Oct 31, 2007 | Permalink |
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I got squired around the renovated Mansion digs by PR manager Erika Gonzalez on Monday as the staff prepares for next week's official opening to the public. Guests already are eating in the name-tweaked Mansion Restaurant (thank goodness it's not the Rosewood Mansion Restaurant), even if the Mansion Bar and some of the side rooms are still in finish-up. Who ever thought the phrase "light and airy" would be applied to this onetime residence? But it's true. Light is the keyword for the main dining room, which has a streamlined, contemporary look with sleek, elegant furnishings. From the pearlized surface of the ceiling (changes were limited by the historic context of the building) to hidden lighting, your eyes are drawn up, up, up. Contemporary artwork by Texas artists graces the walls. Two corner booth-like tables, which aren't in the artist's rendering on the Mansion Web site, provide the catbird -- and lovebird -- roosts. The other big change is the patio, where walls have come down to let patrons gaze out over the pastoral, rolling lawn while passersby can now steal a glimpse from the street. It's set up with tables and a casual arrangement of couches and chairs, awash in pale yellow, to encourage lounging and lingering. Changes to the bar aren't as dramatic, although even here light gets more entree, in features such as the newly gold-leafed ceiling and large, backlit panels depicting hunting scenes. And remember that little room off to the left of the restaurant foyer? It's been transformed into a cozy, inviting salon that's to be the introductory stop in the new chef's-table experience. I'm glad we're finally getting the wraps off this l-o-n-g renovation when the Promenade was overworked as the hotel's only dining room. My most recent experience there was less than stellar, when decidely un-Mansion-like flies buzzed the table. I'm betting that doesn't happen with the new regime. |
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