With Fall Break approaching, the campus is gearing up for going home and enjoying all the luxuries of living with the parents. At the top of the list behind things like pet labs and someone to do your laundry, is good food. The general feeling around campus is that even the RFOC in its shiny new splendor is beginning to get old. Even the words “healthy food” grazed the lips of my normally carnivorous hall-mate.
Well, fellow students, a great meal that doesn’t consist of pizza or chicken wings is finally on campus and available at a reasonable price. This new haven is the Gates Restaurant in the Meadows Museum.
The newly-reopened fine-dining establishment is a simple yet elegant single room in the back of the museum on campus and features both regional Spanish dishes, as well as down to earth country club food.
The menu is both impressive and homey at the same time – dishes like Tapas Barcelona or Monkfish a la Catalana seem a lot less intimidating when placed next to The Classic Cheeseburger and The Texas Club.
The name of the restaurant derives from the fact that the gates, which used to stand in front of the original Meadows Museum now lay against one of the walls in the restaurant. (The ubiquitous design on the top of the gate also happens to be their logo.)
The theme of the restaurant is very much in keeping with its location as it features some of the museum’s artwork on the walls and overlooks its back courtyard.
The minimalist architecture makes it seem as if someone put a table and silverware in the middle of a gallery. During my lunch there, I half expected a security guard to come over and ask me to move my fork away from the El Greco. But make no mistake, the fussiness that should be expected when one hears about a museum restaurant is happily lacking. Yes, there are tablecloths, and no, I would not go there in a mangy t-shirt, but the Gates Restaurant is a comfortable environment that anyone can enjoy even if you’ve never even been in the museum.
Executive Chef Tim Schaub is creating a tabloid-worthy buzz among students with his new menu that manages to live up to its pretentious wording.
By having a table-cloth restaurant in the middle of a nationally renowned museum, it would be easy to fall into the trap of super-pretension. Schaub, along with dining-room manager Darrell Gross, sidesteps the triangular plates with two bites of food on them and the fake French accents for the American waiters. They have found a happy medium between Texas diner foods and overly affected Spanish cuisine.
Other Spanish options on the menu are Paella Valenciana, Tapas Española, and a traditional Gazpacho – all dishes that are complemented perfectly by the brush strokes Velázquez and Goya among others.
The good news is that all this and more can be yours for about the same price as ordering Pluckers. The Spanish specialties range from $13-15, while the rest of the menu spreads from $9-12. On average the whole meal will probably cost $15-20, a no-brainer bargain for the quality of food and service.
Unfortunately, the buzz about Schaub’s expert cooking and his new Gates Restaurant is the only thing going around right now. Their clientele consists mainly of non-students looking for a bite to eat after seeing the museum.
Even without student participation the restaurant is comparatively full right now due to the shockingly impressive “From Cranach to Monet” exhibit now being featured at the Meadows. Nonetheless, the Museum is excited to have the restaurant be a legitimate alternative for on-campus dining for students. Nancy Elliot, the Operations Manager of the Meadows Museum and liaison to the Gates Restaurant is right now exploring new possibilities to entice students.
As of now they do not accept Pony Card, but it is an option that will almost certainly be available sometime in the future. In addition to this, Elliot is looking into the idea of giving out a student discount as part of a Gates promotion. (Keep watch for e-mail notices from the Gates Restaurant or the Meadows Museum letting students know about any of these promotions).
One of the few downsides to the restaurant is the short and awkward time frame it is open. Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. you can enjoy a great lunch in an enjoyable atmosphere – if you can fit it into your schedule. It is no seven-course meal, so it won’t take longer than an hour, but these opening hours may cause a problem for some students.
Overall, the Gates Restaurant is not as convenient as the ROFC, which is clearly the reason it is not being utilized as much as it could be by students on campus, but what it lacks in convenience it makes up in quality.
It would be a shame if this place remains a hot spot for alums and tourists alone, because the price and worth of the lunch you receive are good enough that it should become a main-stay of SMU student life.
In time it will become more convenient, but for now, bring a visiting uncle and put it on his tab before you decide to come back for seconds. And believe me, you will come back for seconds.
