It seems only fitting, then, that Rae, Daniel Stern's new restaurant inside the Cira Centre's lobby, should be a chameleon, too. In look, concept, and even in its broad palette of New American flavors, Rae's identity depends on when and why you come.
Is it a stylish new lunch room and happy-hour hangout for the corporate suits in the offices upstairs, who can step from the elevator into plates of chopped salad and smoked-rabbit nachos? A cutting-edge train-station bar for nibbling on venison cheesesteak with a glass of old-vine syrah before Metrolining off to D.C.? A banquet powerhouse with private rooms that can seat from six to 350? Or a sparkling culinary destination for diners who have eagerly followed Stern's trajectory from Le Bec-Fin to Gayle, the cozy gastro-boutique he still operates in Queen Village?
Rae aspires to all of those things with admirable ambition. And along with polished service and an impressive 200-label cellar, it serves up more than a few glimpses of Stern's culinary prowess. But it has yet to achieve the complete consistency I'd hoped for from one of the year's biggest openings.
The curving bar and lounge, which takes a sweeping dip into the stark-white lobby, is the restaurant's most successful venue. It shares the building's need for daylight, and sunshine illuminates the space with a warmth that is a natural balance to the crisp contemporary design. Center City's skyline hovers splendidly through the lobby's front windows like an inspired urban tableau.
But that view unexpectedly disappears at night, when interior lights cast a glare on the lobby windows. And just as the destination diners arrive for dinner, Rae suddenly begins to feel like a rambling restaurant stuck behind the escalator to 30th Street Station.
