Recently the wife and I went to dinner at The Modern. The Modern is Danny Meyer's funky restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) that opened in 2005 and specializes in Alsatian cuisine (meaning it's kinda French, kinda German). It was an interesting dining experience but I have to say that my impressions of it were rather mixed.
The decor is very stripped down and sleek. The lighting is dim. The Modern's interior doesn't really look that different from any other "hip" New York restaurant although I think this is the first time I ever had dinner while sitting in a leather swivel chair. One cool thing is that the restaurant looks out on MoMA's sculpture garden but your table has to be near it -- and ours wasn't.
Now the service is great and friendly. No complaints there. My water glass and bread plates were always full. Best of all, they recommended some very good wines (a delicious Riesling and a glass of some kind of red wine) to accompany our meal and that was much appreciated.
But the food was a mixed bag. We had the Chef's tasting menu and it was good if not exactly memorable. As hor'derves, they gave us roasted fava beans (tasted like baked pumpkin seeds) and little balls of goat cheese (personal favorite of mine). We had a very good, if not exquisitely delicious, ravioli with snails and a little egg. For the first time I had lobster cappuccino which is basically a cup of cappuccino with tiny bits of lobster and and lobster juice. There were some good seafood dishes including one with white fish and salmon but, again, it wasn't amazing. That said, the dessert was really good -- ice cream and lots and lots of chocolate.
This is not the kind of meal you can get in just any restaurant so I give The Modern credit for originallity. However, if you've eaten at Nobu or per se, it falls short of that standard and that's what The Modern begs comparison to. So if you're looking for an interesting dining experience, I reccommend it but, if you're looking for a mind blowing meal, I can't quite go there ... yet.
P.S. My view is shared by Frank Bruni who wrote this review of The Modern in 2005.
The decor is very stripped down and sleek. The lighting is dim. The Modern's interior doesn't really look that different from any other "hip" New York restaurant although I think this is the first time I ever had dinner while sitting in a leather swivel chair. One cool thing is that the restaurant looks out on MoMA's sculpture garden but your table has to be near it -- and ours wasn't.
Now the service is great and friendly. No complaints there. My water glass and bread plates were always full. Best of all, they recommended some very good wines (a delicious Riesling and a glass of some kind of red wine) to accompany our meal and that was much appreciated.
But the food was a mixed bag. We had the Chef's tasting menu and it was good if not exactly memorable. As hor'derves, they gave us roasted fava beans (tasted like baked pumpkin seeds) and little balls of goat cheese (personal favorite of mine). We had a very good, if not exquisitely delicious, ravioli with snails and a little egg. For the first time I had lobster cappuccino which is basically a cup of cappuccino with tiny bits of lobster and and lobster juice. There were some good seafood dishes including one with white fish and salmon but, again, it wasn't amazing. That said, the dessert was really good -- ice cream and lots and lots of chocolate.
This is not the kind of meal you can get in just any restaurant so I give The Modern credit for originallity. However, if you've eaten at Nobu or per se, it falls short of that standard and that's what The Modern begs comparison to. So if you're looking for an interesting dining experience, I reccommend it but, if you're looking for a mind blowing meal, I can't quite go there ... yet.
P.S. My view is shared by Frank Bruni who wrote this review of The Modern in 2005.
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