2005 Iron Chef champ Kerry Simon is clearly having a blast riffing on classic comfort cuisine from within the reimagined Sofitel hotel. And he's not the only one.

Past the army of valets, the striking lobby and the Stone Rose Lounge to the right is the good-natured hotspot Simon. The large room is divided up by rolling curves of carved screens; after sundown, the backlighting dances across the faces of heavily tattooed girls, questionable May-December romances, hotel guests, besuited Industryites and fun groups who've come to take their time with the gab and the food. It's a nice, unstuffy vibe for a nice, unstuffy menu, filled with extremely tasty variations on items that might initially seem boring. The beet salad has flavorful nibbles of Laurel Chenel goat cheese; the mac and cheese is cooked in truffle oil; the braised short-rib medallions couldn't be more tender; the meatloaf is a spicy, flavorful entree. Fun cocktails are light when they should be light and fruity when they should be fruity. Save room for the playful desserts: Our visit was capped with a decadent orb of chocolate cake that arrived with a small two-strawed milkshake, and huge plates of fresh, pink cotton candy seemed to appear at nearly every table before its inhabitants stepped smiling into the night. On Sundays, the walled-in patio is the best spot to enjoy a DJ-fueled "rock-and-roll brunch," with rich Bloody Marys, omelets, smoothies, and French toast fingers filled with peanut butter and banana. The latter, of course, is a tribute to Elvis. —Lonny Pugh