Restaurant Review: Rozelle Court

While visiting the new Bloch Building, and specifically the impressionism exhibit, at The Nelson [Atkins Museum of Art], our hungry bellies led us to the most convenient source of nutritional satisfaction: Rozelle Court.

Rozelle Court is a cafeteria-style restaurant located in the central courtyard of the marbled art-deco museum. The location is modeled after interior Italian courtyards, with colorful ceiling frescos and a second-story balcony overlook that can be entered into from the museum's exhibits. It smelled delicious and familiar, and it took me a while to pinpoint the smell as akin to the cafeterias found in the department stores of Britain and Ireland.

While the food is cafeteria-style (it placed me back in the 9th grade, carrying my tray along the lunch line), the food is not. You won't find the wilted salads, rubbery meat, or dried-out sandwiches one usually associates with hospital or school cafeterias. The buffet is stocked by professionally-dressed staff, and the food is quite obviously designed and prepared by a chef. I was very pleased with the combinations of lesser-used tastes used only by nicer restaurants and caterers.

The selections included typical tea foods, such as sandwiches, scones, croissants, soups and salads. Of course, there were many desserts. I didn't try any, so can't attest to whether they were made on-site or came out of a box; however, given the impressive quality of the rest of the food, I would guess that the desserts would be just as lovely.

I would recommend Rozelle Court as a fine choice for those unwilling to leave the museum for thier lunch, or for those who would visit just to try the restaurant at least once.