Despite plenty of examples to the contrary, hotel restaurants have a reputation for being stodgy and overpriced, the last resort of business travelers with expense accounts who are too tired to venture out in search of more interesting options. (To be fair, there are also plenty of mediocre or downright bad hotel restaurants.) The Dana Hotel has struggled for the last ten years to figure out what works in its restaurant space, starting with Ajasteak, a steak and sushi spot that was later rebranded as Aja. That was followed by Argent, then by Freestyle Food & Drink, which the hotel managed itself instead of bringing in a restaurant group as it had done for the previous concepts. With Portsmith, the Dana returns to partnering with a restaurant group: the Fifty/50 Group, which first branched out into hotel fine dining last year with Steadfast (in the Kimpton Gray Hotel) after building its brand on its namesake sports bar and the Roots minichain of pizzerias.
Seared halibut was even less adorned, and while it could’ve used a little more acidity and salt, the simplicity of the preparation let the meaty flavor of the fish shine through. Unfortunately, some of the beans that accompanied the fish were undercooked, leaving them chalky and hard, while the romanesco was slightly bitter and acrid. An equally simple appetizer of raw hamachi was cut into tiny cubes and served with petite pieces of golden beet, an odd pairing in which the earthy root vegetable nearly overwhelmed the fish’s delicate, perfect flavor. Bao with king crab (Portsmith’s take on a lobster roll) is as delicious as anything drenched in brown butter should be, but the butter and mayo drown the subtleties of the crab.
660 N. State 312-202-6050portsmithchicago.com
