The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star restaurant sits directly next to the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, one of the world’s preeminent art museums. A wildly popular spot, The Modern offers French-American cuisine and a chic space that has drawn New York’s elite since opening its doors in 2005. Nearly replicating the interior architecture of its museum neighbor, the restaurant is a fabulous treat for modern art and modern food lovers alike.
Then there's the food. In this elegant, sun-lit Midtown spot you will find two restaurants in one — the sophisticated Dining Room and a less-formal Bar Room. Split up in two rooms separated by frosted glass, both restaurants reside in The Museum of Modern Art, and most seats afford great views of the MoMA sculpture garden next door. Chef Thomas Allan creates bold, flavorful dishes for both eateries, but the less-formal Bar Room sports an earthier menu emphasizing small plates with big flavors.
Then there's the food. In this elegant, sun-lit Midtown spot you will find two restaurants in one — the sophisticated Dining Room and a less-formal Bar Room. Split up in two rooms separated by frosted glass, both restaurants reside in The Museum of Modern Art, and most seats afford great views of the MoMA sculpture garden next door. Chef Thomas Allan creates bold, flavorful dishes for both eateries, but the less-formal Bar Room sports an earthier menu emphasizing small plates with big flavors.
Our Inspector's Highlights
- Service at The Modern is proficient and extremely knowledgeable. Team members pride themselves on knowing every detail of every menu at the Four-Star New York City restaurant, and they will enthusiastically explain dish composition and recommendations for inquiring guests.
- With a strong focus on tableside service, staff members steer a decanting cart, a carving cart, a cheese cart and a chocolate cart around the main dining room during dinner each night — a thoughtful and fun throwback to classic New York dining experience.
Things to Know
- A business casual dress code invites you to be as stylish as the pieces found next door at MoMA. Ladies will want to don a skirt or slacks and gentlemen will feel most comfortable in a button down, though jackets are not required.
- The Modern's dining room serves lunch and dinner six days a week and keeps faily regular hours. You can dine at the New York City restaurant for your midday meal from noon until 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday; dinner service starts at 5 p.m and runs until 10 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and until 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
- The Bar Room has seperate hours from the dining room, ensuring that you can enjoy a meal at MoMA almost any time of day. Lunch, dinner and light bites are available from 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday.
- The dining room is closed on Sundays, but you can enjoy both lunch and dinner in the Bar Room from 11:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.
The Food
- The menu at The Modern features French-American cuisine in two formats: prix fixe in the main dining room and à la carte in the Bar Room.
- The Modern offers different bread and butter service in its main dining room and Bar Room — and both are delightful. The bar at the New York City restaurant, which is a constantly full of business people and socialites alike, serves butter from the Vermont Dairy and Cheese Company, while the much more formal main dining room, offers Smiling Hill Farm salted and unsalted butters, along with whole-grain and kalamata baguettes.
- The Modern’s inventive desserts are a decadent way to finish your lunch or dinner at the Four-Star New York City restaurant. Offered as part of the four-course prix fixe and eight-course tasting menus in the main dining room, the desserts range from exotic — think strawberry romanoff with buffalo mozzarella cream and root beer leaf ice cream — to the expected, like milk chocolate caramel mousse with candied hazelnut.
The Design
- Based on the Bauhaus movement, the restaurant boasts a modern elegance that provides an artistic escape from New York City’s Midtown neighborhood.
- The designers, Bentel & Bentel, divided the space with a three-quarter-high wall into a plush dining room and the bustling Bar Room.
- In the main dining room, sit alongside floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, which rotates works from Picasso, Matisse and other great artists.
- The Bar Room focuses on an enormous photograph of 270,000 papered leaves by German artist Thomas Demand.
Getting There
