The Grow a Garden Rat Connoisseur is a special NPC introduced in the Kitchen Storm update, serving as a unique counterpart to Chris P. Unlike Chris P, who accepts a wide range of dishes, the Rat Connoisseur only accepts mutated food. This high standard means players must focus on producing dishes with mutations to earn the best rewards possible.
Who is the Rat Connoisseur?
Appearing during the Kitchen Storm update, the Rat Connoisseur has a refined taste for complex, mutated flavors. The rarer and more mutated your dish, the better the reward options you’ll receive. This makes mutation-focused farming and cooking a key strategy for players aiming to collect rare items, seeds, pets, and cosmetic decorations.
How to Submit Food to the Rat Connoisseur
To earn rewards from the Rat Connoisseur, follow these steps:
Prepare a dish made from mutated crops.
Interact with the Rat Connoisseur by pressing E.
Select “Try this food I cooked up!”.
Choose one of the three reward options offered.
The rarity of the rewards is directly tied to the mutation level of the food you present. High mutation levels yield better prizes.
How to Make Mutated Food
Creating mutated food involves cooking with mutated crops:
Place mutated harvests into the Cooking Pot.
Check the mutation meter before cooking.
A mutation meter above 80% guarantees that the mutation will carry over into the finished dish.
The Kitchen Storm event is the best time to cook mutated food because it:
Speeds up cooking.
Increases mutation carryover rates.
Adds the Aromatic mutation to plants.
Tips for Efficient Mutation Cooking
Cook During Kitchen Storm: The event’s boosts make it much easier to produce high-mutation dishes quickly.
Use the Gorilla Chef Pet: Pair it with the Cooking Pot cosmetic to double your food output.
Aim for 80%+ Mutation Meter: This ensures your dish retains its mutation after cooking.
Stack Multiple Mutations: More mutations lead to better rewards from the Rat Connoisseur.
Pick Rewards Strategically: Always choose the item you need most from the three options given.
Grow a Garden Rat Connoisseur Rewards
Here are the possible rewards you can receive, along with their drop rates:
Culinarian Chest (40%) – Contains Rhubard Seed, Bacon Pig, Hotdog Dachshund, Badlands Pepper Seed, Lobster Thermidor, King Cabbage Seed
Spring Onion (30%)
Bitter Melon (5%)
Pricklefruit (8%)
Butternut Squash (10%)
Cooking Cauldron (30%)
Gourmet Seed Pack (50%)
Gourmet Egg (50%)
Kitchen Cart (20%)
Kitchen Crate (30%)
Kitchen Flooring (30%)
Pet Shard Aromatic (20%)
Gorilla Chef (5%)
Sunny-Side Chicken (30%)
Smoothie Fountain (15%)
The wide range of rewards includes valuable seeds, rare pets, decorative items, and functional cooking equipment. High-value items such as the Gorilla Chef pet or Gourmet Egg make it worth investing time into producing top-quality mutated dishes.
Event Synergy – Kitchen Storm
The Kitchen Storm event is designed to help players produce mutated food more efficiently. During the event:
Cooking speed increases, letting you prepare more dishes per hour.
Mutation retention rates improve, making high-level mutations more reliable.
The Aromatic mutation is added to certain plants, giving you additional mutation variety.
Timing your cooking sessions during Kitchen Storm can dramatically increase both the quantity and quality of dishes you submit to the Rat Connoisseur.
Final Thoughts
The Grow a Garden Rat Connoisseur offers one of the most rewarding systems for players who enjoy farming, cooking, and mutation management. By focusing on high-mutation dishes, cooking during Kitchen Storm, and leveraging the Gorilla Chef pet, you can consistently earn valuable rewards like Gourmet Eggs, rare seeds, and unique decorative items. With smart preparation and strategic cooking, the Rat Connoisseur can become one of your most profitable NPC interactions in Grow a Garden.