The Modern - The Museum of Modern Art

The Modern is a French-American restaurant located at the Museum of Modern Art. The restaurant is a member of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (“USHG”), which includes other well-known places in Manhattan, such as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, and Shake Shack. Having heard good things about this place, my wife and I decided to have our anniversary dinner at The Modern this year.

The Modern has two distinct dining areas – The Dining Room which features more formal setting with open ceiling area with a splendid view of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden inside the MoMA complex; and The Bar Room featuring more casual but energetic setting and certainly much younger crowd than The Dining Room. Both dining areas showcase the creation of Chef Gabriel Kreuther, which is described as “elegant, creative French cuisine....”Obviously for our dinner, we choose The Dining Room.

We’ve been to many “fine dining” establishments in New York, some of them living up to the reputation while others some what disappointing. The Modern has one of the better ones and thought that it lived up to the hype. We were impressed with the service and delicious food to match the mood and the setting of the restaurant.

We were greeted by a staff assigned to our table with the menu. After taking our drink order (Bellini and Cosmopolitan), he gave us some time to leisurely read the menu. In fact, after we placed our food order, he offered to hold off on putting the order into the kitchen until we had some time to enjoy the cocktails and the amuse-bouches, which was a plate of scooped cucumber ball, goat cheese, and foie gras pâté.

And for dinner, we ordered the Chef Tasting Menu – which comprised of 8-course tasting course. And for me, suggested wine paring with the dinner.

The course included:
1).Melted Goat Cheese Amuse-Bouches
2).Foie Gra Terrine Flavored with Juniper Marinated Raisins, Grilled Country Bread
3).Yellowfin Tuna and Diver Scallops Tartare – Seasoned with American Paddlefish Caviar
4).Roasted Maine Lobster with Buckwheat Angelhair
5).Chorizo-Crusted Chatham Cod with White Coco Bean Puree and Harissa Oil
6).Long Island Duck Breast with Black Trumpet Marmalade, “Fleischneke”, and Banyuls Jus
7).Cheese Plate
8).Dessert

Did not care too much for the foie gra. Bit too much stuff around it. The tartare was quite good and matched well with the saltiness from the caviar. Maine lobster with buckwheat angelhair was an interesting combination. The duck breast was quite meaty. For the cheese plate, they brought a tray full of cheese for us to choose from. The portions on each course was just about right, except for the cheese plate. They were quite generous with the cheese, which we were not able to finish them all.

And for each course, the staff matched it with wine selection. It was quite good. Perhaps it was a bit too much alcohol but nonetheless, very enjoyable. They offered wines from various parts of the world, from Alace to Bordeux, from Virginia to Long Island. And finished it with Port for the cheese plate. Quite an experience and each wine was paired nicely with the meal. One regret is that they did not have a list of the wines served during the meal for me to refer back to.

The presentation of the food, with the wine and the timing were all orchestrated quite well by the waitperson in charge of our table and one additional staff to assist. Again, the service was quite impressive.

When we finished the course, had our espresso, and ready to depart, we had been at the restaurant for over 3 and 1/2 hours. Now, that is a leisurely dinner. One of the more memorable dining experience in New York for sure.

The Modern
The Museum of Modern Art
9 West 53rd Street
(between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 333-1220
Advance reservation strongly recommended. At least two weeks in advance

www.themodernnyc.com