RATION & DRAM
Overall rating: 1 of 5 stars
Food: contemporary American
Service: friendly, but with seemingly varying experience levels
Best dishes: celery soup, duck, pork belly
Vegetarian selections: lots of options for vegetarians
Price range: $$-$$$
Credit cards: all major credit cards
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays, 5 p.m.-midnight Mondays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturdays.
Children: very kid-friendly (except for high-top seating)
Parking: dedicated lot
Reservations: for parties of six or more and for special occasions only
Wheelchair access: yes
Smoking: no
Noise level: moderate
Patio: yes, a lovely space with fountain and picnic tables
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 130 Arizona Ave., Atlanta. 678-974-8380.
Website: www.rationanddram.com
Research suggests that we form first impressions within the first seven to 30 seconds of encountering new situations or people. And once that impression has been formed, it takes a great amount of conflicting data to override it.
Forming such rapid assessments has long been to our evolutionary advantage as we filter mass amounts of information to determine and predict outcomes that will affect our well being. We may not even be conscious of the input we’re receiving to make those snap judgments.
The same is true of our first impression of restaurants. We’re often unaware which attributes influence our opinions, but we can immediately pick up on whether a restaurant has a sense of place or if it lacks an identity.
At Ration & Dram, the new spot from Andy Minchow, my first thought was that it isn’t at all like Holeman & Finch, the very current, cocktail-centric public house where Minchow was a founding partner. For better or worse, this notion was all but solidified by the time I crossed the restaurant’s threshold.
Ration & Dram has many of the elements of successful independent establishments. You’ll find a seasonal menu with locally sourced ingredients and particular emphasis on the beverage program. You’ll also find the en vogue cast-iron serveware and an interior replete with wooden accents and stained concrete flooring.
Yet, in those first seven to 30 seconds, my sixth sense found something missing — essential features that come together in the soulful way of a restaurant with a well-defined personality like Holeman & Finch.
Ration & Dram seems to lack a unifying vision, and what’s left feels like a jumble of contradictions. It’s touted as a kid-friendly restaurant but has almost exclusively high-top table seating (a parent’s nightmare). It has a surprisingly unintended cocktail focus. And the menu is in transition, with new chef Rod Lassiter moving from a loose vegetarian focus, with items like the grain bowl chock full of veggies, to what he calls “progressive Southern” fare (think cracklin’ pork belly).
According to Minchow, he didn’t plan to make Ration & Dram cocktail-centric, which is why he carefully curated a high-value wine list with almost a dozen by-the-glass selections and bottles in the $26-$50 range. Similarly, the restaurant offers a dozen beers, like the Lefthand Sawtooth Nitro Ale ($6) on draught, and about the same number of large-format bottled beers.
But customers expected top-shelf drinks and Minchow’s mixology roots followed him to Ration & Dram. So, you’ll find about six oft-changing cocktails on the daily menu. These include drinks like the Boo Radley ($9), a mixture of Deep Eddy vodka, Dolin Blanc, orange bitters and Fevertree bitter lemon soda, disappointingly void of the expected citrusy spark. Similarly muddled and diluted is the White Picket Fence ($11), a concoction of Bluecoat gin, Strega, lemon and Crispin cider. Maybe there’s a need for more exploration here.
While you’re picking your way through the beverage program at the bar-style high-top tables, Ration & Dram offers a build-your-own charcuterie board to fill bellies. Customers receive little check-off cards with about 18 individually priced selections ($1-$4), including pickled garlic slices, folds of prosciutto lardo, peppy Doux South drunken tomatoes, spiced pecans, Asher Blue cheese and fresh mulberries. If I lived in the lofts across the street, I can tell you I would be over to raid this pantry.
Lassiter, formerly with Wrecking Bar Brewpub, is in the process of reshaping the rest of the menu. He plans to keep many of the vegetarian options as he shoots for broad appeal, but has modified some like the risotto ($14). Now made with steel-cut oats, the hearty dish has chew. What it needs is flavor, the gentle notes of oyster mushroom, smoked leek puree and fresh parmesan too mellow to carry the savory oatmeal.
The chilled celery soup ($5), on the other hand, has balance and richness. The pale-green soup, thick with heavy cream and butter, comes with a beautifully vibrant arc of green fennel oil suspended on top. This ranch dip-like soup is one of my favorite bites at Ration & Dram, even if it could use a potato chip.
As Lassiter shifts the menu to reflect his style, we’re seeing items like the cracklin’ pork belly ($8). Scored and definitely cracklin’, the skin may give your jaw a workout but offers an alluring contrast to the lusciously soft belly swirled with orange, sorghum, bourbon and ginger.
I also favored another of Lassiter’s additions, the duck breast ($24), smoked in the freestanding smoker just outside the front door. Although slightly chewy, the smoky duck paired with quick-pickled beets and sauteed snap peas has appeal. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the overcooked and grainy pan-seared duck livers ($12).
The kitchen is also working through some timing issues. On one visit, my husband’s steak frites ($19) arrived perfectly cold and a full seven minutes before my duck. I’d finished nearly a third of his browned, skinny fries by then.
After tasting the Amaro Montenegro creme brulee ($6), I’d also suggest a little work in the dessert department. I confess that I could only stomach two bites of the curdled custard served in a guitar-shaped cast-iron pan. Your safe bet is the bacon caramel popcorn ($5).
Let’s not rush to make comparisons with other local spots. Ration & Dram is its own brand of restaurant — one that even the staff there is still trying to identify.
