Five Museum Restaurants Worth Visiting Even If You Don't See Any Art
<em>The Modern (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=211559600139&set=a.211550390139.170731.190163145139&type=1&theater">Facebook</a>)</em><br/><br/><strong><a href="http://gothamist.com/tags/themodern">The Modern</a>:</strong> One of the city's best restaurants just happens to be located <a href="http://www.themodernnyc.com/#/restaurant/diningroom">inside MoMA</a>. And you don't even have to pay that <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/07/28/moma_raises_admission_price.php">hefty admission</a> to dine there. You do want to make reservations though, because chef Gabriel Kreuther's French-New American fare can get quite popular. Also, be ready to spend money. Though you can get cheaper (and just as tasty) Ã la carte options at the front bar/cafe, the prix fixe-only dining room is the best place to really get a sense of what Kreuther has up his sleeve.<br/><br/><em>9 West 53rd Street // 212-333-1220</em>
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The Modern (Facebook)The Modern: One of the city's best restaurants just happens to be located inside MoMA. And you don't even have to pay that hefty admission to dine there. You do want to make reservations though, because chef Gabriel Kreuther's French-New American fare can get quite popular. Also, be ready to spend money. Though you can get cheaper (and just as tasty) Ã la carte options at the front bar/cafe, the prix fixe-only dining room is the best place to really get a sense of what Kreuther has up his sleeve.9 West 53rd Street // 212-333-1220
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<em>The Met (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/246896968/in/photostream/">wallyg</a>'s flickr)</em><br/><br/><strong>The Metropolitan Museum of Art:</strong> The Met has quite a few <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/dining/">perfectly adequate dining options</a> (the Friday and Saturday only Great Hall Balcony Bar is fun) but your best bet for fine fare after that McQueen exhibit is one that only members get to enjoy. That'd be the Members Dining Room, which floats above the museum with a stunning view of Central Park. The slightly-stuffy but still very charming restaurant offers <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/dining/trustees_menu">four-course tasting menus</a> at lunch and dinner as well as weekend brunches and is only open to membersâbut then again how else are you going to get into that McQueen show early? Plus, to get there you have to take a random elevator in the middle of the museumâwatch as other museum goers eye you suspiciously! Reservations are required, btw. To become a member at the Met, <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/member/index.htm">click here</a>.<br/><br/><em>1000 Fifth Avenue // 212-570-3975</em>
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The Met (wallyg's flickr)The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Met has quite a few perfectly adequate dining options (the Friday and Saturday only Great Hall Balcony Bar is fun) but your best bet for fine fare after that McQueen exhibit is one that only members get to enjoy. That'd be the Members Dining Room, which floats above the museum with a stunning view of Central Park. The slightly-stuffy but still very charming restaurant offers four-course tasting menus at lunch and dinner as well as weekend brunches and is only open to membersâbut then again how else are you going to get into that McQueen show early? Plus, to get there you have to take a random elevator in the middle of the museumâwatch as other museum goers eye you suspiciously! Reservations are required, btw. To become a member at the Met, click here.1000 Fifth Avenue // 212-570-3975
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<em>Robert at MAD (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=369960195034&set=a.369958755034.359023.274181105034&type=1&theater">Facebook</a>)</em><br/><br/><strong>Robert at MAD:</strong> The food served in the restaurant atop the Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle is just fine, but whatever. Because the views at this very mod American restaurant are truly spectacular. Seriously, if you are in the neighborhood it is worth going up just to get a drink at the bar so you can stare out over the expanse of Central Park. If you do get the food though, the strip steak ain't bad at all.<br/><br/><em>2 Columbus Circle // 212-299-7730</em>
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Robert at MAD (Facebook)Robert at MAD: The food served in the restaurant atop the Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle is just fine, but whatever. Because the views at this very mod American restaurant are truly spectacular. Seriously, if you are in the neighborhood it is worth going up just to get a drink at the bar so you can stare out over the expanse of Central Park. If you do get the food though, the strip steak ain't bad at all.2 Columbus Circle // 212-299-7730
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<em>Untitled at the Whiteny (<a href="http://whitney.org/Visit/Cafe">Whitney</a>)</em><br/><br/><strong><a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/03/31/new_restaurant_and_bar_radar_43.php?gallery0Pic=3#gallery">Untitled</a>:</strong> Considering the success of the Modern it isn't that much of a surprise that Danny Meyer would try and replicate it. And while Untitled, his cafe at the Whitney, doesn't even try and scale the heights the Modern does, it does do its New American dining thing quite well. Weekdays the joint is open with soups, sandwiches and omelets for breakfast and lunch but the real fun is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights when Chef Chris Bradley (formerly the executive sous chef at Gramercy Tavern) whips up $46 three-course, family-style dinners of whatever he finds fresh at the market.<br/><br/><em>945 Madison Avenue // 212-570-3670</em>
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Untitled at the Whiteny (Whitney)Untitled: Considering the success of the Modern it isn't that much of a surprise that Danny Meyer would try and replicate it. And while Untitled, his cafe at the Whitney, doesn't even try and scale the heights the Modern does, it does do its New American dining thing quite well. Weekdays the joint is open with soups, sandwiches and omelets for breakfast and lunch but the real fun is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights when Chef Chris Bradley (formerly the executive sous chef at Gramercy Tavern) whips up $46 three-course, family-style dinners of whatever he finds fresh at the market.945 Madison Avenue // 212-570-3670
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<em>Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=67933141007&set=a.67932251007.88143.59080621007&type=1&theater">Facebook</a>)</em><br/><br/><strong>Cafe Sabarsky/Cafe Fledermaus:</strong> After you look at some of the most expensive art in the world (oh, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Bloch-Bauer_I">Klimpt</a>) nothing hits the spot quite like top notch "fin de siecle kaffehaus-style" Viennese fare, and that's exactly what chef Kurt Gutenbrunner serves at these sibling restaurants in the Neue Galerie. It's all very over the top, but so is the art. And sometimes you really want to mull on what you've seen with a pastry, a bowl of beef goulash and maybe a few additional light bites. Do note though, Cafe Sabarsky is only open to non-members at dinner (but it has the same menu as the less extravagant Cafe Fledermaus).<br/><br/><em>1048 Fifth Avenue // 212-288-0665</em>
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Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie (Facebook)Cafe Sabarsky/Cafe Fledermaus: After you look at some of the most expensive art in the world (oh, Klimpt) nothing hits the spot quite like top notch "fin de siecle kaffehaus-style" Viennese fare, and that's exactly what chef Kurt Gutenbrunner serves at these sibling restaurants in the Neue Galerie. It's all very over the top, but so is the art. And sometimes you really want to mull on what you've seen with a pastry, a bowl of beef goulash and maybe a few additional light bites. Do note though, Cafe Sabarsky is only open to non-members at dinner (but it has the same menu as the less extravagant Cafe Fledermaus).1048 Fifth Avenue // 212-288-0665
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