Hasta La Ideas

Take room service home with a menu full of much more than standard fare

Typically unappealing lists of overpriced fare, most room service menus take the idea of an indulgent vacation impulse and translate it into soggy, cold meals. The European Boscolo Hotel Group, however, aims to change the game from dull to delectable with alluring photos and a menu organized in a simple cookbook format.

The upshot is more of a culinary keepsake (though pilfering is not explicitly encouraged), offering breakfast, lunch and dinner with vegan options included. Meals span easy to difficult, duly noted in the cooking instructions along with tips, preparation time and necessary ingredients. Bruschetta with Salmon and Shrimps (shown above) takes only eight minutes and is labeled easy despite its decorative display. The straightforward Lasagna alla Bolognese takes 60 minutes to prepare and is surprisingly marked with a medium degree of difficulty.

During a recent stay at the Boscolo property in Rome, Hotel Exedra, I put the menu to the test ordering the Bresaola Beef with Parmesan Cheese. It arrived stacked on a bed of arugula and, while it naturally didn’t look as picture-perfect as in the menu, the quality ingredients and flavor put any such concerns to rest.

A clever example of a hotel chain’s attention to detail, hospitality and marketing, guests who walk away with a Boscolo room service menu leave with a reference guide that will long evoke fond memories while also offering a way to create future gastronomic experiences.