Fort Worth Magazine

by Malcolm Mayhew | December 2, 2024

The lavish and luxurious new Crescent Hotel offers several dining options, but its culinary pride and joy is The Blue Room, a restaurant-within-a-restaurant found inside Emilia’s, the hotel’s main in-house restaurant. Designed using a color scheme of blue tones perhaps meant to emulate the ocean, The Blue Room is aimed at well-walleted diners craving a more intimate and elevated experience than most restaurants offer. Service is highly personal: Servers dote and sweep away crumbs, a sommelier comes by to suggest wines, and chef Preston Paine may even visit your table to see how you liked the dover sole, which is of course fileted tableside, much to the oohs and aahs of guests. There’s an air of exclusivity here that extends to the menu, which is separate from Emilia’s. Smaller in size and specially curated by Paine himself, it typically includes entrees from the land, sea, and air, along with several small dishes where Paine often stretches his legs creatively. When we visited, hors d’oeuvres included a roasted squash tartlet, with caramelized peanuts and pickled mustard seeds, that ranked as one of the best one-bites we’d taken in a while. Caviar service has since been added, and along with big ticket items such as dover sole, you’ll find approachable — and more affordable — options such as seared Peking duck breast.     

What to order: You don’t go to Vegas just to play the penny slots. You go all in. Approach The Blue Room with the same philosophy — prepare to spend big and you’ll have fun. Made for two, the dover sole is the dish du jour. It comes with its own show: A server debones the fish tableside. Another showy dish is the rack of lamb, carved next to your table. Apparently, servers here are trained to be fishmongers and butchers. Sure things include light and divine scallops and fresh oysters served with a seasonal mignonette sauce.