Rat Pack Cafe

Ocean's Eleven would be right at home

by Margaret LeRoux

Rat Pack Cafe 50-60 Worcester Road Framingham (508) 628-1842 Hours Mon.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m. Sun. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Major credit cards Full bar handicap accessible

The spirit of Frank Sinatra is alive at the Rat Pack Cafe in Framingham. This classy joint is a swinging tribute to the bad boys of Las Vegas who are pictured on the walls. The bar is decorated with Rat Pack memorabilia, including one of Frank's felt "lids." There's live music every night by a piano player who favors jazzy Sinatra tunes.

I was one of a couple of dames who showed up for a late supper on a recent week night. The two of us admired the golden, faux leather walls; the curved, padded banquettes; and the artsy metal sculpture of dancing couples fencing in the small lounge. Booths and banquettes line the walls; the middle of the room is filled with tables for two or four. The table decor is black (napkins) and white (tablecloths), with pretty shaded lights and full place settings of heavy cutlery. Serving dishes for the appetizers are gleaming black, and dinner plates bright white.

This place feels like one of those cocktail parties your parents used to give. Veteran restaurateur Ronnie Catanese, who owns the Rat Pack, explains the eatery fulfilled his goal of a "living large" restaurant offering "fine wine and good, but not pretentious food."

The place exceeds his dreams, with imaginative offerings in all categories. Though a martini seems the appropriate drink here, we selected two nice wines from the by-the-glass offerings, a New Zealand sauvignon blanc from the Nobilio vineyard ($6.50) and a French pinot noir, Laboure-Roi ($6.50).

Appetizers include baked oysters with champagne mignonette; roasted monkfish served over Napa cabbage and poppy-seed coleslaw; grilled lamb medallion served with onion relish and roasted mushroom (all $12 each); and sausage salad ($10), with Italian, chorizo, and wild-boar sausages and green and yellow beans in chili pepper and sage oil

We chose assorted crostini ($10) and were served a striking, triangle-shape plate with three long, thin slices of toasted baguette, each spread with a different topping. They were artfully arranged on a bed of mixed greens and garnished with a steamed artichoke heart. Our favorite was the white bean purée -- subtly rich with garlic -- though it was hard to beat the salty olive tapenade or the sweet, sun-dried tomato relish. Bread fans won't want to pass up the plate of rolls, some dense with sesame seeds.

Salads include mixed baby greens ($4.50), Caesar ($5.50), and warmed spinach ($7.50).We asked to share the spinach salad, and the kitchen thoughtfully divided it before serving. We each received a plate of bright green, barely cooked spinach leaves garnished with a giant, roasted portobello mushroom, crispy bits of pancetta, and a grilled plum tomato. Just a touch less balsamic vinaigrette, and this salad would be perfection.

Main-course offerings change with the season, and the spring garnishes -- pea tendrils and baby beets -- were as appealing as the main courses were. When we dined, they ranged from an assortment of roasted vegetables ($15) with a goat-cheese-stuffed scallion crepe to a rack of lamb ($26) with English cucumbers, wild berries, roasted purple potatoes, and pea tendrils. Sautéed halibut ($21), over toasted couscous, broccolini, and fried leeks, tempted us, as did grilled tuna ($22), over saffron linguine with baby spinach, pearl onions, fennel, and oven-dried tomatoes.

Coho salmon was featured, but we were too late; it was sold out. Instead, I selected sautéed cod and lobster ($21). It arrived in a large, deep bowl over a mound of tender, basil fettuccine topped with a sprig of tiny-leaf, licorice basil. The cod, unfortunately, was dry; but the split lobster tail was bursting with sweet meat. Sliced baby zucchini -- barely cooked -- and leeks and wild mushrooms were layered among the strands of pasta. A couple of grape tomatoes were a tasty and colorful accent. My friend's choice, pork rib chop ($19), was served tilted on its side, supported by a skewer of fresh rosemary and a little forest of broccoli rabe. The chop was almost an inch thick and fork tender, good enough to eat alone; but the Pommery mustard and amaretto demi-glace, sautéed nectarines, and toasted almonds were too tasty to pass up. Chive garlic mashed potatoes rounded out the plate.

With a snifter of cognac, we'd have been right at home sitting by the piano until closing, but we faced a workday. So we split a sweet, chocolate-pecan-mousse tart ($6.50) and headed home. The bill for a fantasy-filled evening was $84.21 before tip.