Unless you're a guest at a hotel or work within walking distance of one, it's a good bet you seldom think of a hotel restaurant as a dining destination.

There are exceptions, of course. The highly regarded Grange at the boutique Citizen Hotel comes to mind. Or Dawson's at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Or stepping back in time at the legendary Oak Room inside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

We tend to forget about hotel restaurants, which is a shame. There's something special about entering a spacious hotel lobby, discovering a restaurant and being led by a staff specifically trained in civility to out-of-towners.

My lunch pal and I found that scenario at Morgan's restaurant at the opulent, 10-year-old Sheraton Grand. It occupies the restored Public Market Building at 13th and J streets, a local landmark from 1928 to 1976.

We walked inside. The registration desk is on the right, the Public Market Bar is to the left, the Grand Ballroom Foyer awaits down twin staircases.

We walked up a flight to the wide-open atrium area where Morgan's is sprawled. We sat and looked upward toward the pale-green steel girders and huge windows. "It has that Old Europe train station feeling," said my lunch pal.

True, but the furniture in the room looks … well, tired. Certainly, mini-bouquets of fresh flowers on the tables would help brighten the scene.

Mulling that, we spotted a tall man in a black chef's coat addressing a nearby table of 13 attentive women. Turned out to be executive chef Russell Michel, informing the participants of the Local Roots guided walking-and-tasting tour. Morgan's was one of the stops on the seven-restaurant, three-hour jaunt (www.localrootsfoodtours.com, 530-863-3159).

Just as we were getting in to our bowls of excellent but quickly cooling heirloom squash bisque and mushroom soup with rosemary olive oil, Chef Michel approached and introduced himself, as he was doing at each table. "My true passion is farm-to-table cuisine," he said.

We asked about the squash bisque, and learned it's made from locally sourced roasted squash (English cheese, French butter, red garnet) and Cant pumpkin. The process includes salt, pepper, onion, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and coconut milk.

Morgan's menu runs from $4 to $25 and shows salads, sandwiches, specialties (crab cakes, sea scallops) and a weekday prix fixe lunch (pulled pork sliders, salmon burger). Which may sound mundane until you look closer and consider everything is made from scratch. The pear salad assembles local pears, brulee of artisanal goat cheese, almonds and burnt honey vinaigrette. One of the "signature burgers" is "hand-pressed fresh salmon, dill, lemon aioli and baby lettuce on brioche."

We shared a brimming bowl of rich, silken lasagna with Bolognese sauce made chunky with house-made Italian sausage, and made creamy with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella. It's described as "open faced," meaning it's cooked to order, not precooked and spatulaed out of a pan.

"This is like the flavor of a good wine," said my lunch pal. "By that I mean when you taste a good wine, you understand the difference between that quality and a $7.99 bottle."

Next up was a super-rich triple-decker "decadent grilled cheese." Crunchy, gooey, heavy-duty, and how could it not be – prosciutto and Gruyere cheese on grilled multigrain bread, drizzled with musky white truffle oil.

Other good things: dark, non-cloying sweet potato fries that held their crispness far longer than could reasonably be expected; olive tapenade with no trace of bitterness; and three kinds of butter with the basket of warm rolls.

After all that, dessert was out of the question. So was walking very far. Until we walk in sometime soon for the a la carte Sunday brunch and order a Belgian waffle with blueberry-Grand Marnier compote and candied walnuts. Or lemon-ricotta pancakes.

It's clear that chef Michel knows how to create fine fare, but for the fun of it I put this to him: "Let's say you walk up to a vending machine full of snacks. What do you choose?

"To walk past it," he said without pause.

MORGAN'S

WHERE: Inside the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 1230 J St., Sacramento

HOURS: Lunch is 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; a la carte Sunday brunch is 11:30-2 p.m. Dinner is 5:30-10 p.m. daily. Breakfast is 6:30-10:30 a.m. Mondays-Fridays, 7-11 a.m. weekends.

FOOD: 4 stars

AMBIENCE: 4 stars (for the atrium venue)

HOW MUCH: $$

INFORMATION: (916) 341-4100, www.sheraton.com

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Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni, (916) 321-1128.

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