OUR 5 FAVORITE MUSEUM RESTAURANTS IN NYC
Forget lackluster cafés with pre-prepared sandwiches and machine cappuccinos—the best museum restaurants connect the mission of the institution with the food on the plate.
By Nick Schonberger
Address and phone: The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W 53rd St, 2nd floor
Website: momacafes.com
Good for: Recharging between exhibitions
MoMA doesn’t skimp on food. At Long Island City off-shoot PS1, M. Wells Dinette holds it down. Next door to the main building on 53rd Street, the Modern connects to the institution’s vibrant galleries and serves, for some, as the de facto museum café. It isn’t. It does a disservice to Danny Meyer’s partnership with MoMA to suggest that it begins and ends with fine dining.
On MoMA’s second floor, Cafe 2 provides a more traditional museum experience—communal tables, espresso, and panini. It’s designed for mid-visit meals. And, thanks to executive chef Dan Jackson, it avoids standard cafeteria cliches in favor of seasonal Italian specialities. There are pastas, salumi tastings, and tiramisu. All succeed in lifting spirits, providing a second wind for tackling another part of the collection.
Cafe 2 is an anomaly on this list in that it doesn’t exactly enhance the museum mission. But it is simply the best place to eat while firmly entrenched within the galleries of any of NYC’s monolithic institutions.
Order this: Salumi and cheese tasting
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MUSEUM CAFES
