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Artful dining is in at museum
restaurants
By Stefanie Berry Stark, Special for
USATODAY.com
Masterpieces on the wall aren't the only
artistic creations worthy of viewing these days at museums. In
an effort to enhance the visitor experience, museums are
increasingly focusing on culinary art served on a plate.
Translation: They're spending big bucks, hiring highly trained
chefs and cutting-edge architects and interior designers to
create extraordinary museum restaurants.
"I would say that ten to fifteen years
ago, the idea of having good food in a museum was almost
inconceivable," says Tim Zagat, founder and chairman of Zagat
Survey, publisher of the popular burgundy-colored restaurant
guides. But times have changed. "As part of what I think is
this ongoing revolution in food, there's been an increasing
appreciation by museum directors and boards that having good
food is a real benefit to the museum," states Zagat.
The result? Nationwide, museum visitors
with grumbling stomachs are more likely to find themselves
taking a break and dining on delicious food in a great
setting-without having to leave the building. Major museums
often offer both a casual, quick service option and a fine
dining restaurant. It's no longer unusual to find celebrity
chefs at the kitchen helm (such as Wolfgang Puck, who's behind
Puck's at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago), white
tablecloth service and stunning décor.
Top-notch restaurant paired with museum
seems to be a winning combination for all. A great restaurant
can attract museum attendance and keep visitors there longer
while making them happy with the possibility of a delicious
(and convenient) pre- or post-exhibit diversion. But museums
are also acutely aware that dining is not their primary focus.
While the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York just opened a
café in response to frequent visitor requests at the Cloisters
(the museum's northern Manhattan branch dedicated to art and
architecture of the Middle Ages), administrators are careful
not to put too much emphasis on its food service. "At the Met,
we really regard a café as an amenity, a place for visitors to
rest and refresh…not a destination," explains spokesman Harold
Holzer.
Still, some of the best museum restaurants
have become so popular that they've culled a following in
their own right. The hip Café Sebastienne in Kansas City's
Kemper Museum is one of them. "It's definitely a destination
restaurant," says the much-loved chef Jennifer Maloney, who
has cooked for the esteemed James Beard House in New York. At
the Neue Galerie New York, Café Sabarsky is so popular that a
line must often be endured to get in. Says New York
Times food critic William Grimes, himself a fan of Café
Sabarsky, "…given the kind of business they're doing, other
museums might want to think about the topic [of better museum
restaurants] in a new way."
They are. "All over the country, there's
more and more focus on providing a really good restaurant, or
one or more, in the major museums," says Zagat.
Here's a list of some of our favorites,
and a bit about what makes them special:
Café Sabarsky, Neue Galerie New York, New York,
NY
Likely the best place outside of Austria
for authentic Viennese coffee and apple strudel is Café
Sabarsky, located inside the Beaux-Arts mansion that houses
Ronald Lauder's Neue Galerie New York, a new museum of early
twentieth-century Austrian and German art in Manhattan. It
opened to instant success with ladies who lunch and New
Yorkers who like to check out what's in.
Period details (sconces by Josef
Hoffmann, bentwood chairs by Adolf Loos and fabrics by Otto
Wagner) evoke a turn of the century Viennese café,
complimented by elegant features such as high ceilings, wood
paneling and a marble fireplace (desserts are displayed on the
mantle).
Even the chef is Austrian. "Kurt
Gutenbrunner, the chef, has really made an effort to turn out
high-level cooking and to duplicate some of his favorite
sandwiches and the like from places in Vienna that he loves,"
says New York Times food critic William Grimes. Gutenbrunner
(also the chef and owner of the respected Wallse in Greenwich
Village) offers traditional Austrian dishes like goulash with
quark spatzle, which can be washed down with (of course) good
Austrian wine.
But-no doubt-what's most wonderful here
(besides the rich, imported coffee, straight from Meinl's in
Vienna) are the renowned desserts from pastry chef Serge
Decrauzat (formerly of Le Cirque 2000). "The main thing is the
desserts," says Grimes who wrote that Café Sabarsky offers
"the best coffee in the city." In a recent review, Grimes puts
a handful of the pastries in a "drop-dead category" (as in
drop-dead delicious), including the apple strudel, the house
specialty Klimt torte and the linzer torte. Open daily except
Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 except Friday, when it stays
open until 9:00 p.m. (a great place even just for coffee and
newspapers, which are neatly kept on individual racks).
Zola, International Spy Museum, Washington,
DC
Scheduled to open in mid-July, the
International Spy Museum, dedicated to exploring the history
and practice of espionage, will offer Zola, a 175-seat,
upscale restaurant and bar. Named for French novelist Emile
Zola, best known for defending Alfred Dreyfus, and created and
operated by the group that owns D.C.'s popular Red Sage
restaurant, chef Phillip Carroll will offer Modern American
cuisine "with a comforting twist."
Hip, local design team Adamstein &
Demetriou helped create Zola's sleek look, which subtly
embraces the spirit of espionage. A long, tectonic
metal-topped bar (lit from beneath) and large, clear "floor
portals" (they can be looked through, revealing the museum's
shop below) set the tone. Six dining booths contain whimsical
spy holes that allow one to catch a glimpse into an adjacent
booth and a mirror with a hidden window in its center that
offers a peek into the kitchen. At first glance, it even
appears that one can spy in the women's room, but rest
assured-the bathroom portals don't actually reveal anything.
Even the art, acrylic panels with encoded text by Washington
artist Jim Sanborn, relates to espionage. At the CIA
headquarters in McLean, Virginia is a Sanborn sculpture in
which a secret message is encoded. Open for lunch and dinner
daily starting August 8.
The Restaurant, The Getty Center, Los Angeles,
CA
No doubt, the stunning, panoramic view of
the Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica mountains from the
Restaurant, the Getty's 150-seat fine dining establishment, is
one of the finest in LA (floor-to-ceiling windows on three
sides of the establishment take full advantage of it).
Thankfully, the restaurant's modern, open and airy ambiance
and chef Terri Buzzard's delicious and creative California
cuisine match the vista. Recent menu offerings include pureed
carrot and cumin soup with feta cheese and cilantro crisp,
Dungeness crab and rock shrimp cake with honey mango salsa,
and sweet soy glazed Hawaiian Ono with orange garnet yams and
caramelized pineapple.
Nature's art is indeed compelling (and a
curving outdoor terrace a perfect spot from which to watch the
sun set), but diners at the Restaurant can also enjoy a giant,
mixed-media installation by LA artist Alexis Smith
(commissioned for the Restaurant) that explores the meaning of
the word taste, incorporating quotations and references to the
joys of eating and drinking.
"It's gorgeous and has wonderful food,"
sums up Tim Zagat. Open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday,
dinner Friday and Saturday and Sunday brunch.
Puck's at the MCA, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, IL
Wolfgang Puck has teamed with Chicago's
Museum of Contemporary Art to create Puck's at the MCA, a
120-seat restaurant with a view (and an outdoor terrace)
overlooking the museum's sculpture garden and Lake Michigan
beyond. Some consider Puck's to be one of Chicago's hidden
gems (the entrance to it is inside the museum, although museum
admission is not required).
A well-rounded, worldly menu offers
dishes such as an Asian-inspired chinois chicken salad with
daikon radishes, spicy sesame vinaigrette and fried wonton
"croutons" and an Austrian-inspired schnitzel (pounded crispy
pork tenderloin) on grilled sourdough with lemon aioli.
American classics like Cobb salad and a good old burger are
also on the menu. Spago Chicago's chef François Kwaku-Dongo
oversees the kitchen, which also puts out a few Spago
signature dishes. To top it off, an impressive wine list with
selections by the glass is available.
While Puck's is mainly open for lunch, a
new Sunday brunch with its own menu has recently been added,
offering dishes like Peekytoe crab omelet with asparagus and
marscapone cheese, buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries
and lemon curd, and the most popular item-breakfast pizza
(baked pizza dough topped with red onion, scrambled eggs and
smoked salmon). "Tuesday on the Terrace" (5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
from June 25 to October 1) offers an evening option complete
with jazz musicians, cocktails and a small plate menu.
Fraser Garden Court Terrace, Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, MA
At the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the
110-seat Fraser Garden Court Terrace offers a classy, modern
and peaceful setting with a dramatic, 25-foot floor to ceiling
wall of windows that overlooks an outdoor courtyard (complete
with fountains and 75-year old Linden trees). Executive chef
Benjamin Cevelo, former chef at several fine dining
establishments including the Four Seasons in Boston, the
Willard in Washington, D.C. and at Spago Chicago (where he was
recruited by Wolfgang Puck), offers contemporary Mediterranean
cuisine.
Cevelo and pastry chef Kristin Eychelshymer
often create themed meals that celebrate the season or match
the subject of a current exhibit (an exhibit titled "Dangerous
Curves: The Art of the Guitar" inspired a German chocolate
espresso cake and a poached pear dessert-each shaped in the
form of a guitar, and an impressionist still life exhibition
inspired an impressive "impressionist table" buffet). Recent
items from the regular menu include roasted beet and seedless
watermelon salad with shaved prosciutto, feta cheese and mint;
peppercorn dry rubbed Black Angus sirloin with corn and tomato
salsa, and grilled striped bass with pineapple and green onion
relish.
Appropriate for museum dining, Alexander
Calder's Mobil Blanc (1972) hangs from a vaulted ceiling. A
great wine bar, with a nice array of by-the-glass options and
a lighter small plates menu, also exists. Open for lunch seven
days a week and dinner on Thursday and Friday.
Seventeen
Seventeen, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
The minimalist chic yet comfortable,
140-seat sun-filled Sevnteen Seventeen lures the local lunch
crowd and business professionals as well as museum patrons.
Beyond great service is an inventive menu with spectacular
culinary creations. Chef Jesse Moreno presents dishes so
beautifully many consider them edible art. Recent entree
favorites include Chilean sea bass with mirin butter, sesame
asparagus and won-ton potatoes (with a creamy mashed potato
laced with Wasabi inside) and barbeque beef tenderloin.
Several wines by the glass (or bottle) are available, and (in
case more art viewing is in order) patrons can gaze at the
restaurant's beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright window. Open for
lunch Tuesday through Friday.
Joy America Café, American Visionary Art Museum,
Baltimore, MD
The offbeat, whimsical and alternative
American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, which houses
"outsider art" or incredible creations made by ordinary
people, offers bliss at the Joy America Café. The restaurant
combines white tablecloth dining with a fabulous view of the
Baltimore harbor and a creative menu inspired by Latin
American and Caribbean cuisines. Entrees include pan-roasted
halibut with avocado and red onion salad, gazpacho sauce and
yucca fries as well as fork tender Cuban pork roast with red
bean and rice congri and citrus onion marmalade. Small plate
dishes great for sharing are also available (shrimp and sweet
potato fritters with spicy papaya salsa; coconut lime shrimp
ceviche with popcorn garnish). An outdoor terrace sits
adjacent to a fifty-five foot tall, multi-colored spinning
whirligig, reminding diners of the museum's offbeat nature.
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday and for
Sunday brunch.
Pallettes, Denver Art Museum, Denver,
CO
Modern and filled with light from two
walls of windows, this contemporary American restaurant boasts
Kevin Taylor as chef and owner, who some say put Denver on the
culinary map (he has established several popular fine dining
restaurants in Denver and Boulder including Dandelion, Nicois,
Jou-Jou and Restaurant Kevin Taylor).
Pallettes delivers on the high quality,
delicious fare that locals have come to expect from Taylor.
The restaurant, complete with a titanium wall curving through
its dining room, is located near the Denver courthouse and
lures art lovers and judges alike. The seasonal menu sometimes
changes to reflect the latest exhibit, pairing dishes with
French sauces with Matisse, for example. Lunch Tuesday through
Saturday and dinner on Wednesday.
Café
Sebastienne, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City,
MO
Colorful and bold, the colossal work The
History of Art by American artist Frederick J. Brown is
actually 110 individual paintings, on permanent display at the
Kemper's Café Sebastienne (replicas of different famous
paintings, such as Van Gogh's The Starry Night and Edvard
Munch's The Scream, each representing an important movement or
figure in the history of art, are stacked one above another,
covering almost every inch of the café's wall space).
Commissioned for the museum, the installation is a perfect
backdrop for the funky and eclectic 120-seat café, which draws
artists and musicians as well as business professionals and
the old money set in to dine on chef Jennifer Maloney's
inspired cuisine.
Some say Maloney creates "edible
masterpieces," made from the freshest available ingredients
from local organic farmers. The menu changes weekly, but
recent offerings included chilled tomatillo soup with black
bean crème fraiche; pan-roasted quail with grilled white
peaches abd port-vanilla bean reduction; and grilled Thai beef
salad with Soba noodles, cabbage, cilantro, mint and a sweet
and spicy peanut sauce. Frequent wine tastings with hor
d'oeuvres are popular. Open for lunch Tuesday through Sunday
and dinner Friday and Saturday.
Pavilion Café, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC
The newest dining option at the
National Gallery of Art is a remarkable oasis of tranquility
in the heart of Washington, D.C. The 120-seat Sculpture
Garden's Pavilion Café offers panoramic views through
floor-to-ceiling windows of great sculpture and a beautifully
landscaped garden. Two outdoor terraces offer additional
dining and, in the summer, a special tapas menu (along with
two full bars on the terraces) available for "Jazz in the
Garden," a free, Friday evening concert series (5:00 to 8:00
p.m.).
While the setting is what makes this one of the
nicest dining spots in Washington, chef Marcel Langlais puts
out a pleasant array of freshly made sandwiches, salads and
specialty pizzas. The recently updated menu includes a roast
beef sandwich with horseradish and brie cheese served on
marble rye, and a white pizza with olive oil, garlic, pine
nuts, oregano, fresh basil, mozzarella, provolone and
parmesan.
Open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through
Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. On Fridays in
the summer, the café closes at 3:00 p.m. and reopens from 5:00
to 8:00 p.m. In winter months, hours are 10:00 a.m. to 9:00
p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on
Sunday.
Stefanie Berry Stark, a Washington,
D.C.-based writer, has written for The Washington Post, Arrive
and Washington Flyer.
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