Michael Mina’s grand (and savory) return to Union Square

A trip to the Westin St. Francis off Union Square always comes with a shot of nostalgia, an irresistible jolt of American mythology that covers more than 120 years. The storied walls hold pictures of visiting dignitaries like Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and, in a gloriously chaotic (and age-gap scandalous) photo from the 1960s, newly married Latin music sensations Xavier Cugat and Charo.

Display cases feature exquisite antique place settings, grand serving dishes, and intricate menus from the reign of Victor Hirtzler, the legendary St. Francis hochef who’s credited with elevating local cuisine to French standards—and whose complex, cream-laden dishes sound as alien to us now as they did in the 1910s, when they needed a printed diners’ guide to explicate them. Even if y