Everyone knows the Met Museum! It has an "unfinished" architectural façade by Richard Morris Hunt. Notice the four unfinished piles of unsculpted "blocks" atop the pillars of the main entrance. Like many things in NYC, money was diverted, and the planners didn't care to resume to finish it. That's what visitors see at the "grandest museum" in America's richest city.
Until 2008, the museum’s director of 31 years was a French marquis named Philippe de Montebello. More tourists and New Yorkers sweep through the doors than any other museum in the city. The hot dog vendors by its curb pay the highest fees in the entire city to operate there. The basement's fashion exhibits--initiated by "Vogue" matriarch Diana Vreeland and now enhanced by the magazine's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour--are famous. Its former plummy-voiced/spiffy Director, Philippe de Montebello is equally renowned. Fund-raisers and society balls held there accumulate the elite of the world. Not to mention its extensive curated collections! Lewis and I look forward to the new exhibits, each season, and we've enjoyed some of their lectures.
But, we've also savored their array of eateries. On each level. You might not think of going to a museum for a meal… but we do. For flâneurs like ourselves, they're great!
If you're an urban explorer, connoisseur of meandering, passionate spectator, lover of life to a world of friends, or have a fascination with street life, then you'll love the people-watching and new acquaintances to be made from around the globe. They afford places to pause and notice that the city isn't just speed, anonymity and uniformity.
Just above the main lobby (which was designed as a gathering place, like a piazza), the Great Hall Balcony Bar is a cozy spot with café tables & chairs… and live chamber music (above). Lewis and I have treated friends to their scrumptious wine list, hors-d'œuvre, and especially the pâté!
The American Wing Café, near the part of the museum of the same name, is a "self-serve" cafeteria-line with open seating that overlooks the skylit museum exhibit. It also offers views of Central Park.
Just as the Petrie Court Café does (below).
Except, those diners pay for table service, afternoon tea, alcohol, and meals of more substance. (Yet, MoMA's Café 2 is better in every sense!)
Speaking of alcohol, I still attest that one of the best "drinking spots with a view" is the Met's Rooftop Bar. Sunsets, skyline, foliage! And the annual art installations take months of preparation--often with awe-inspiring creativity. Below is an image of last year's "display" by Swiss landscape architect Günther Vogt. We enjoyed sitting on the "lawn" and hoped the museum would keep the "garden" forever. This year's installation, "Human Mask" by Pierre Huyghe will commence in a few weeks. To be seen… Nonetheless, the bar is a nifty spot for cocktails, wine & pre-made sandwiches.
However, if you enjoy "having the place all to yourself", then an experience dining "after hours" is wonderful.
That requires an invitation to a Members-Preview party of an exhibit or making reservations at the Members Dining Room.
Our friend, Pierre, finds moments of time in his busy globe-trotting schedule to dine at the museum with us. Here's a recount of our last dinner there.
We arrived early and waited in the austere
lounge, sitting on low leather chairs. The place looks a bit "dated". Considering that it's the most "elite" eatery, it's shameful that the wealthy museum resists investing in its upkeep. The room resembles the outdated 1989 interior design of the Marriot Marquis Hotel on Broadway. (Like most of NYC, they won't reinvest until they steadily lose money from a lack of customers).
It besmirches the chef's talents and his "seasonal menus". Yet, the service is "correct". We watched uniformed waiters putting finishing
touches on the tables. Patrick, the young trendily slim-suited mâitre d’, sat us at a table in the center of the room. The slanted windows angle inward and overlook Central Park and the 2,000-year-old ancient Egyptian obelisk.
At night, you see the twinkling city lights and Upper West Side skyline. (The windows remind me of TV detective Remington Steele's penthouse).
Our waiter, Piccolo, was very congenial. Drink orders produced a perfect martini for me. I requested it to be, "Dryer than the elderly women sitting around us". That made him chuckle. The bread arrived in appreciatively soft/warm fashion. Perfect! Since it was chilly outside, our trio ordered soups. Waiters presented silver-domed
trays on our tables, and the domes were whisked away to reveal large soup
bowls with only a 4-inch diameter arrangement of ingredients. Lewis' face was skeptically priceless. (You know
how posh restaurants charge lots of money for very small portions of food. It’s the kind of imagery that fast-food
franchises use to sell their crappy hamburgers.)
However, the waiters returned with silver
soup tureens and ladled the soup around the main ingredients. Absolutely delicious! I seriously had not tasted anything so
good. While Pierre perused the wine list, we enjoyed another round of cocktails. Lewis' Manhattan came in a frosted glass, which is always a nice touch, with REAL
cherries, served on a small square plate with a silver pick. They had been marinated in a sweet
cherry sauce.
Next, we had duck confit and foie gras—which was stupendous! Naturally, the dishes arrived so nicely decorated that you knew somebody’s fingers had been all over them. Piccolo was also very capable, and I merely had to attract his attention with my eye movements, and he cued the staff around us. It’s nice when you don’t have to “wave down” a waiter or wait for them to come by and ask if everything is okay. Pierre selected a bottle of Pinot Gris, and the sommelier picked out appropriate white wine glasses, that curved out at the rim.
I loved the pumpkin and chicken
risotto! Charred gourd and creamy rice were perfect. All ingredients are locally-sourced and organic. I noticed a
cheese course and inquired with our waiter about sampling a few cheeses of the cheese steward’s choice.
Each was excellent and certainly not obtainable in a local store (unless you live near Murray's or Artisanal or Fairway or Citerella's). I would have been disappointed to go into Manhattan for something that I could get in my local supermarket. Next, we had duck confit and foie gras—which was stupendous! Naturally, the dishes arrived so nicely decorated that you knew somebody’s fingers had been all over them. Piccolo was also very capable, and I merely had to attract his attention with my eye movements, and he cued the staff around us. It’s nice when you don’t have to “wave down” a waiter or wait for them to come by and ask if everything is okay. Pierre selected a bottle of Pinot Gris, and the sommelier picked out appropriate white wine glasses, that curved out at the rim.
Cheese acted as our dessert, along with some fine figs. We chose some freshly-brewed tea from the sophisticated tea leaf selection. While the oolong tea steeped on my tea tray, I “people watched” the fellow diners around us, as well as the multi-ranked wait-staff bustling around them. Teacups were presented, and silver tea strainers were placed in each cup to catch any loose tealeaves that may pour from the pot. Silver holders were put on the table for the tea strainers, and real sugar cubes (and brown sugar cubes) arrived with a silver creamer. I like a place that makes things on their own, like their own sugar cubes, mayonnaise and desserts!
After two cups of soothing tea, we paid our check, got our coats, and descended the elevator to the semi-darkened museum. Late night guards/ushers nodded to us, as we traipsed to the front doors. A security guard wished us a good night, and we hailed a cab right on Fifth Avenue.
Each eatery at the Met offers a distinctly different experience, and I'd recommend enjoying some great food and drinks at the museum.
To see a better restaurant in a museum that is farther south on Fifth Avenue, please use this link:
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