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Restaurant Review
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Rat's

Reviewed by Valerie Sinclair   
Posted December 26, 2007

It’s surprising how many people have never heard of Rat’s—not the rodent, but the restaurant at the Grounds for Sculpture. Created by sculptor J. Seward Johnson, Rat’s gets its name from a character in his favorite book, The Wind in the Willows. Each room in the restaurant boasts a unique decor, with diners entering through a facsimile of a brightly colored Gypsy caravan. Must-see sculptures in bronze, steel, stone, wood, and concrete are artfully arranged around the 22-acre garden. (Thirteen more acres are being added to the park, which will eventually offer a library/resource center and additional exhibition space.)

The Grounds for Sculpture are open to visitors for an entrance fee, but anyone dining at Rat’s can wander through at no cost. Other food options include the Gazebo, which serves snack food during warm weather; the Café in the Domestic Arts Building, which is open year-round for casual dining; and Kafe Kabul, which is actually attached to the bar at Rat’s and serves a limited, less costly, casual menu in an attractive Middle Eastern setting. A live blues band performs in the space on Tuesday evenings.

This is the third time Rat’s has been reviewed in these pages and the first time the food has disappointed. The extraordinary setting has always been the prime draw, but in the past the food was very good and had moments of brilliance. In the course of four visits in as many months this year—lunch, dinner, brunch, and dinner—the food sounded much better than it tasted. Many dishes were bland and poorly seasoned. Service was offhand—apart from an amazing bartender, Dennis Austin, who never forgets a drink or a face. But the dining experience was truly a letdown, since Rat’s has always been a favorite place to bring out-of-town guests. One hopes the food and service improve enough to inspire a return visit.

Of the four meals, brunch at Rat’s was best, followed by dinner at Kafe Kabul, lunch at Rat’s, and in last place, dinner at Rat’s, which is not an inexpensive matter. At Kafe Kabul diners can order from the regular menu, but the small, casual, café menu is reasonable, with appetizers such as soup, pâté, or smoked salmon at $6 to $8, and main courses such as flatiron steak frites, hamburger, salmon, or Cuban sandwiches at $12 to $18. Brunch is a fixed-price $49 per person for an appetizer and dessert buffet, main course chosen from a menu, plus a glass of champagne.

Dinner at Rat’s, however, is pricey for the quality, but there are some decent options. Corn soup with lobster and leeks is hearty but served lukewarm; three fried clam cakes flavored with bacon are tiny but tasty; also enjoyable is paper-thin tuna carpaccio with sesame yogurt, marinated cucumbers, and peppercress. Sub-par grilled calamari arrives cold, served with watermelon and feta cheese, an unappealing combination; short-ribs terrine is dry and overpowered with mint; a triangle of terrine of foie gras with cherry coulis is too small to warrant the $21 tariff. The warm popovers served with the meal are outstanding.

Among the main courses, striped bass with saffron is bland and likewise the vegetables served with the fish. But halibut with roasted-tomato vinaigrette is delicious. Antelope chops are overpowered by a strong clove flavor that makes the gravy bitter; scallops are prepared well but served with a gummy risotto; suckling pig has very little flavor. Lasagna à la minute is a strange dish—a few rounds of gummy pasta layered with soggy grilled vegetables and Manchego cheese, which at $26 is truly a crime.

On the positive side, the well-stocked cheese trolley is definitely worth sampling. For dessert, peach strudel with caramel ice cream and spun sugar is very good, and so is the beggar’s purse with blueberry and lemon and a dark chocolate pot de crème.

There are real problems with the service. After ordering a bottle of wine, only the first glass was poured by the server, and then diners had to help themselves; servers removed plates before everyone at the table has finished; and the check was brought while dessert was still being eaten.

Reviewed January 2007