Suzanne S.
Yelp
Gosh, I wanted to love Rhubarb. I've had it on my wishlist forever. It's truly Farm to Table. It's well-hyped. It's beautiful inside. The service was impeccable. But the food just missed the mark. And face it, that's why we're here.
We had reservations for 4 at 7 pm on a Saturday night. We arrived a few minutes early and they were able to seat us early. Yes! The place has every table full before we arrived and after we left. Somebody loves it. Lots of somebodies. But it wasn't our table.
I go out to eat a lot. I like higher-end restaurants. Sometimes I think that makes me more jaded than educated because sometimes it might take a lot to impress me. Before I go I've normally researched extensively and decided what to order ahead of time. This time, they were missing the dish on the online menu that I'd chosen so I had to call an audible. No big deal, I'll ask the waiter for guidance. When I told our waiter I was between two dishes, and asked for his input he said one was more springlike, and one was more fall-like. So, I chose the one I couldn't get at just any restaurant: The Braised Leg of Lamb.
We started with a snack of Sumac Spice Calas with Strawberry Chutney. These reminded me of a cross between hushpuppies and beignets. Sounds yummy, right? These were really flavorless. The chutney was tart and bright but was too much for me even though I suspect it was exactly how it was meant to be.
Back to the Braised Leg of Lamb...The menu says it was prepared in a Vindaloo sauce, served with a spring succotash and lentils. The lentils were served looking like refried beans. It was a lot of lentil. The braised lamb was cooked well, fell off of the bone, and by itself was good. The vindaloo sauce was overwhelming to me and I just couldn't get past the huge flavor profile. I left the majority of the dish there, I just couldn't make it through.
My daughter had Ricotta Gnocchi and we all agreed her dish was the best. The homemade dumplings were pillowy soft and nearly melted in our mouths with barely a chew. The sauce it was in was a bright green dream that was just delicious and fresh. My daughter didn't care for it, so my son and I helped her out. I would have preferred a bolognese, but this was light for spring.
My son had the Smoked Chicken. This was the worst dish of the night. The chicken was smoked pretty heavily, that's the only flavor I could taste. But worse, the skin was flaccid. It was inedible and flabby. It was served with Barley Berries, Swiss Chard, Charred Shallots, Pepper Vinegar Jus, and Pickled Nettles. All of the garnish was flavorful and well made, but the star of the show was left on the plate.
We were of course still hungry so decided to order the dessert in hopes that we could be satisfied. The dessert was fine. It was not special, but it was good. We had a strawberry sundae, carrot cake, and lemon cake. They were beautiful as you might imagine and we were glad we ordered.
I'm not sure if we visited on an off night, made wrong choices, or have simple palates. All I know is that I drove 90 miles for a restaurant that couldn't top one in my own backyard. So for me, it was kind of a fail.