{"id":472888,"date":"2025-10-04T05:48:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T05:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/472888\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T05:48:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T05:48:21","slug":"archeological-gastronomy-in-the-heart-of-los-angeles-what-has-the-united-states-eaten-in-the-last-70-years-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/472888\/","title":{"rendered":"Archeological gastronomy in the heart of Los Angeles: What has the United States eaten in the last 70 years? | Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

To think about American food is to think about hamburgers, fries, frozen pizzas. Sure, that\u2019s true\u2026 but it\u2019s not the whole story. U.S. culture has shaped the popular imagination, but sometimes it has also been limited by it. There\u2019s much more to the country\u2019s kitchens and dining rooms than pepperoni and macaroni and cheese, but since when? A group of chefs has stopped to consider what people have eaten in the United States over the last 70 years, giving it a touch of renewal and, of course, exclusivity.<\/p>\n

Because those chefs are responsible for the kitchens of the Beverly Hilton, one of the iconic hotels in Los Angeles (technically, Beverly Hills\u2014a small city in its own right, surrounded by its larger sister city). The favorite establishment of Conrad Hilton, the founder of the hotel empire<\/a>, has been a playground for the family for decades, even for Paris Hilton<\/a>, who still maintains a strong connection to the hotel and even recently redesigned a suite temporarily for her guests. Now, as the hotel celebrates its 70th anniversary, it has decided to pay tribute to American food while celebrating its own history.<\/p>\n

\"ElPresidential suite dining room at the Beverly Hilton, set for a gala dinner celebrating its 70th anniversary.Cortes\u00eda del Beverly Hilton<\/p>\n

After hosting celebrations of many of the city\u2019s most venerated awards ceremonies, from the Golden Globes<\/a> to the Oscar winners\u2019 luncheon, the Beverly Hilton is now looking to f\u00eate its 70 years with a series of high society Beverly Hills dinner parties served in its presidential suite. The rooms have housed Nixon and Kennedy, who always checked in when they were visiting Los Angeles \u2014 leading the hotel to be dubbed the \u201cWhite House of the West.\u201d Exact dates for the dinners have yet to be released, largely because they won\u2019t be public affairs, making use instead of the allure of the exclusive. <\/p>\n

Menus will be made up of dishes that revisit, decade by decade, the hottest plates of each historic era. \u201cWe\u2019ve done so much research, Google searches yes, but we have also spoken with so many people, with the hotel\u2019s former chefs. Some, for example, recommended that we watch period films and yes, we saw a lot,\u201d state the three masterminds of the dinners, chef Justin Campbell, executive sous chef Matthew Sprister and executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi.<\/p>\n

For around two hours, a dozen attendees will sit at a white table with a view of the sunset over the hills that lend their name to the city, tasting the creations of the hotel\u2019s chefs. But first, there are cocktails. Local distillery Beverly Spirits created a special whiskey to celebrate the moment, its run limited to just 210 bottles. \u201cI looked for a smooth approach, with 60% bourbon oak and 40% rye oak,\u201d explains founder Andrew Borenzweig of his libation creation, which has hints of \u201ccaramel, vanilla, maple, like a toasted marshmallow,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"AndrewAndrew Borenzweig, founder of the Beverly Spirits distillery, with the whiskey created for the 70th anniversary of the Beverly Hilton, on the hotel\u2019s terrace in September 2025.Photograph: Jakob N. Layman<\/p>\n

Along with celebrated bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Borenzweig created two drinks to sip while chatting in the suite\u2019s grand salon: the Barron, an updated old-fashioned with a touch of orange; and the Wilshire Highball, with lemon, apricot, mint and elderflower. In addition, the founder also designed a special bottle featuring a customized label for the Hilton.<\/p>\n

And then, it\u2019s time to eat. Before the seven-course menu, as if that weren\u2019t enough, a small starter arrives: a herb roll with butter inspired by 1950s popular culture. The first plate also hails from the 1950s; in fact, it\u2019s an amuse-bouche, as it was called back then when French terminology was in vogue for appetizers. They are deviled eggs \u2014 but here they are elevated with caviar and truffled yolk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were tremendously popular, but we wanted to elevate them with truffle in the yolk and \u2014 why not? \u2014 a little bit of caviar. Because that\u2019s Beverly Hills!\u201d laughs Sprister when he comes out to present the course. Although they have been eaten since the 1920s, deviled eggs were all the rage in the 1940s and 1950s, when the egg itself experienced a wave of popularity. They began to pop up frequently at parties, picnics, and particularly at Easter.<\/p>\n

Deviled eggs with caviar and truffled yolk, served at the 70th\u00a0anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

The true first course is inspired by the 1960s. At the time, a certain sense of innovation in the kitchen was in style, reflected by the arrival of gelatin. Hence, this course is a tomato aspic with king crab and avocado mousse. In the 1960s and 1970s, these so-called aspic dishes became common, featuring small pieces of food encased in gelatin, as chef Campbell explains.<\/p>\n

In this case, as the menu elaborates, the dish is about valuing \u201ctechniques that display the social importance of entertainment,\u201d of the art of hosting. Here, in contrast with the busy and elaborate recipes of the 1970s, the aspic is fresh and light, with cucumber, avocado and tomato juice, an updated mix of soup and salad at once.<\/p>\n

\"\u00c1spic Tomato aspic with royal crab and avocado mousse, inspired by the 1960s and served at the 70th anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

Next comes the fish, of course. It is a tribute to the 1980s, a fun tiki-style sea bass, with Ritz breading and a fruit salsa. The dish hints at the introduction of fusion cuisine, with \u201cmany ideas brought together,\u201d according to the chefs. Its crispy batter is made from one of the most popular crackers on the U.S. market, which at the time was beginning to be used not only as an appetizer, but also as a springboard to innovation by television chefs, as the Hilton chefs point out. It is garnished with fruit and flowers, a reflection of the \u201cadventurous spirit of the decade, an ode to Trader Vic\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this show of nostalgia, the menu hit its stride. Trader Vic\u2019s Beverly Hills location was well-known, its cuisine influencing the city from the 1950s onward. In 2007, it was demolished to make way for the construction of the Waldorf Astoria, which is located on the same block as the Beverly Hilton. The Hilton opened a bar serving its departed neighbor\u2019s cocktails and dishes by the pool for a decade. Everyone at the dinner had fond memories of Friday night dates at Vic\u2019s, the celebrities they ran into there, what they ordered, and that delicious, yes, shrimp cocktail. The spirit of the city is resurrected, as if by a Ouija board, by a piece of breaded fish.<\/p>\n

\"'HotPepperoni \u2018Hot Pockets\u2019 with parmesan crust, one of the dishes served at the 70th anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

The following course was perhaps the most entertaining of all: pepperoni Hot Pockets, a wink at the classic adolescence microwave dinner. \u201cIconic, fast, indulgent,\u201d as it was described. Well, not that fast: it was lovingly made with puff pastry by Henzi, who has been at his post at the Hilton for almost 15 years. \u201cI was lucky that I got the 1990s,\u201d he laughed. Accompanied by a Parmesan crust, a smooth tomato sauce and a few pieces of greenery, it was every bit the fun surprise.<\/p>\n

\"PechugaCeleried duck breast with parsnips and grape salad at the 70th anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

Next came the main course, inspired by the 2010s. It was the most modern dish, although its name \u2014 always playful \u2014 hid the truth: \u201cDuck breast with parsnip and grape salad.\u201d There was no duck breast. Vegan, plant-based, and gluten-free, the centerpiece of the dish was actually celery, shaped, colored, and even textured to resemble duck. Everything was served with a white sauce, mustard, parsnip pur\u00e9e, lentils, and raspberry sauce.<\/p>\n

\"UnaA new version of the classic Black Forest cake, served at the 70th anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

The 1970s arrived with the desserts. The first was a Black Forest cake, a classic from that early era of international culinary exploration. This version was lighter, featuring different types of chocolate, deconstructed and then reconstructed. \u201cI like the traditional one; it would have been easier for me,\u201d laughed the pastry chef.<\/p>\n

\"ElThe final dessert served at the 70th anniversary dinner of the Beverly Hilton in September 2025.M. Porcel<\/p>\n

The final and most modern dish was the dinner\u2019s grand finale, named Coffee Textures. Dreamed up by the hotel\u2019s dessert expert, a disciple of Spanish celebrity chef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s<\/a>, it was a challenge to the palette. There was liquid coffee, solid coffee, frozen coffee, coffee foam, coffee spheres, gelatins and cream. \u201cIn 2008, when The Bazaar opened, everyone wanted to do molecular cuisine,\u201d joked Henzi, as he encouraged us to start eating. \u201cEnjoy, I know you\u2019re full, but try a bit of each.\u201d A bit of each was tried, with pleasure and delight. A shame that the Hilton doesn\u2019t do doggie bags. <\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To think about American food is to think about hamburgers, fries, frozen pizzas. Sure, that\u2019s true\u2026 but it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[26828,39951,556,19640,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-472888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-beverly-hills","9":"tag-hilton","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-paris-hilton","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115314328159212696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}