ART Restaurant and Lounge

Couple weeks ago, I met J at a Taiwanese hot pot place. We hit it off right away, and found that we both loved eating more than anything else, and had very similar taste in food. Of course, we couldn't pass on any opportunity to try another restaurant. On this particular day, we went to ART Restaurant and Lounge at the Four Seasons. J and I, along with her 9 month old son, C (who is THE most easy-going baby in the world!), requested a table with a view, and had high hopes of what a Four Seasons restaurant could deliver. However, right in front of us was an old red brick building.

We understood that a restaurant didn't have any choices about the surrounding buildings, so even though was a bit of a letdown to not have an unobstructed view, we were still in high spirits anticipating a fabulous lunch. However, it was like a train wreck, things kept on getting worse, never picked up. First came the focaccia, while the flavor was OK, it was cut and plated too early as the edges all dried out. Instead of separate choices for appetizer, entree and dessert, they had 3 Dine Around Seattle prix-fixe menus. We were intrigued by the "TV tray" names until the plates showed up. The portion was SO small (only couple bites of each), everything was served on ONE plate (therefore a "TV tray").

We had the "Pacific Ocean TV Tray" and the "From the Farm TV Tray". The seafood platter had cured steelhead with pickled rhubarb, crisp penn cover oysters, macadamia nut crusted Opah with bonito-miso wilted pea vines, and tropical "Tres Leches" cake. While the rhubarb was very nice, both the steelhead and oysters were very plain. The opah was very tender, but the pea vines was too salty. Even the tropical "Tres Leches" cake was just average. The meat plate had a grilled asparagus salad with warm goat cheese, a soft boiled egg with crispy prosciutto aioli, a spring lamb "BLT", and double cream cheesecake. The asparagus salad was probably the best part of our lunch with the supple asparagus, nice goat cheese, and fried onion that reminded one of onion rings. The egg was perfectly cooked, but the cooking stopped at the boiling. It was very plain, then paired with some overcooked, overly salty and dry prosciutto. As for the lamb "BLT", other than the dry bacon, hard and dried croissant, all I could say was that "where is the lamb?". The cheesecake tasted fine, but it was more like a mousse than a cheesecake. I know I must sound like a broken record when I say that half the meal was just PLAIN PLAIN PLAIN, while the other half was just salty and dry. What a disappointment! Of a Four Seasons restaurant! We left the place unsatisfied and unsatiated!

The concept of Dine Around Seattle was to bring more people to restaurants they haven't been before, so they could become potential future clients. If the restaurants felt that their profit margin was too low, they could choose not to participate or not to use expensive ingredients. I believe firmly that you could create delicious meals with fresh everyday ingredients. What really bugged me was that it felt like ART was so insincere about the whole experience, I couldn't understand why they even bothered to be part of this event. Not only they didn't gain me as a future patron, they lost me and my friends forever.

ART Restaurant and Bar
99 Union Street (Four Seasons Hotel), Seattle, WA 98101
(206)749-7070