Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email In a nutshell: A near-perfect stay in London’s first billion-pound hotel where every detail matters. The buzzphrase ‘quiet luxury’ feels fitting for the city’s first offering from this international group. The neighbourhood With its lobby looking…

The new Durango casino punctuates the point — in a $780 million way — that the southwest is the latest flavor stronghold in the Las Vegas Valley. There have been early scouts, such as The Black Sheep. Later encampments, such as Firefly Tapas, Locale Italian Kitchen and Basilico Ristorante Italiano. And UnCommons, with Amari and…

You can spy the colorful orange and green neon signs in the Beautiful South window from way down the block. As you get closer, your nose is struck by the sharp, tempting aroma of wok oil, garlic and ginger, which puffs out over the street from discrete exhaust vents. For diners like me, that’s the…

Burgers on the grill at Hamburger America, which opened last week on West Houston. Photo: Ron Antonelli Aside from Danny Meyer and Ronald McDonald, George Motz is the biggest name in burgers. He is a pundit and author of hamburger-history books, with a large fanbase thanks to his First We Feast YouTube show, among whom…

St. Louis Restaurant Review announced an increase in ratings for Asian Corner in Valley Park, MO. VALLEY PARK, MO (STL.News) St. Louis Restaurant Review announced that they have revised the ratings for Asian Corner in Valley Park, Missouri, due to an increase in online customer reviews. The increase in its average rating from 4.7 Stars…

At some point in the ever-exploding cosmos of this region’s restaurant scene, we may run out of names. At least it has begun to seem that way this year after I wrote about an excellent new restaurant in the Italian Market called Alice, named after chef Dave Conn’s late mother, then quickly realized it was…

“Our Season” (Showbox) The plot of director Yuk Sang-hyo’s “Our Season” is quite simple. Bok-ja (Kim Hae-sook) visits her daughter Jin-joo (Shin Min-a) as part of her “vacation from heaven” after suddenly passing away. Despite Bok-ja’s excitement over the prospect of seeing her daughter again, she is startled to find out that Jin-joo has quit…

beginning at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12, Sinatra restaurant in Encore is hosting a three-course dinner to celebrate the singer’s birthday and the release of “Platinum,” a 22-song collection marking the 70th anniversary of his signing to Capitol Records.

That picture on the wall, near the bar? The one that looks like a Miró? It’s a real-deal lithograph by the Spanish abstract artist. It’s also a kind of Easter egg, a clue to the something extra happening at Commis distinguishing it from other shopfront bars along this stretch of Collingwood. As with the Miró,…