There are few restaurants Hector Tamez frequents more than Uni, the izakaya located in Boston’s boutique Eliot Hotel. Consider the presentation, he says, or how the staff feels like family. Then, of course, there’s the Chiang Mai duck carnitas. “I would take it over several highly ranked Michelin-starred restaurants that I’ve been to any day,” Tamez says.
When the pandemic hit, Tamez continued to support local restaurants, Uni among them, by ordering takeout, but the food was never quite as good, he says. By the summer, Tamez was dining out again, alfresco, limiting his visits to just a handful of restaurants, including Uni. Although indoor dining in Boston resumed in late June, Tamez, a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School, wasn’t comfortable sitting down to eat indoors anywhere that wasn’t his home until he discovered a workaround.
Want a Nice Dinner Out? Your Hotel Room Awaits
Restaurateurs and hoteliers are teaming up to create private dining experiences that allow guests to get out of the house, but limit their exposure to others.
In Denver, the Urban Farmer steakhouse has paired with the Oxford Hotel to offer dinners in hotel rooms that have had the beds removed and replaced with dining tables for up to six people.Credit.From the Hip Photo
By Karen Schwartz
Dec. 24, 2020
It had been six months since Nick Bayer and his wife had been on a date. But with freezing temperatures gripping Philadelphia and indoor restaurant service banned, dinner in a tent wasn’t appealing. So instead of sitting outdoors at the Walnut Street Cafe, a local restaurant, they opted for an elegant meal served in a hotel room that had been converted into a private dining space.