The Modern at MoMA

[NewYorkTexan]

Terrace 5 is a neat space with a good sized terrace, 8-10 tables, that will offer a great view when weather permits them to open it.

Service was frustratingly slow even after factoring in it was a crowded Friday night (Friday nights are free). They offer one of the more stylish hot chocolates I have ever seen. Sharon felt the drink was too thick, but it comes with a tasty macaroon and quality marshmallows. The desserts looked good, but we did not try any.

[Fat Guy]

The Modern's fine-dining area also has outdoor access, so once the weather turns nice there will be increased seating capacity and outdoor dining.

[slkinsey]

Nice feature article about Danny Meyer by R.W. Apple, Jr. in today's NY Times that touches on his move uptown with the Modern:

. . . he worried aloud whether the look and the flavor of the food would live up to the Picassos and Pollocks on the museum walls and to the distinguished architecture of Yoshio Taniguchi.

He worried about the high-octane types who sit on the museum's board: "What if they call at the last minute and can't get a table?" He worried about his ability to keep tabs on a restaurant more than 25 blocks north of his others, which lie within a five-minute walk of his home. Will he be able to pop into the Modern to greet a particularly good customer on short notice?

"This is my first trip outside of my own precinct," Mr. Meyer said.

In the article, Meyer says he picked Kreuther "because he was established as a major talent but had his best work ahead of him."

[Jason Perlow]

Rachel and I had dinner with a friend of the site tonight at The Modern Bar Room. Here are a few shots, I'm a bit beat, more to come with comments tomorrow.

Bar Room Dining Area

Bar Room Lounge

Various interesting moss plants, succulants and artichoke flowers on display

Bar shot

Another Bar shot

Main Dining Room kitchen

Arctic Char Tartare with daikon and trout caviar

Some weird dude who walked into the kitchen with us, and the Bar Room Executive Chef

[Jason Perlow]

Bar Room, filled with patrons

Bar Room kitchen. Very narrow, much smaller than the main kitchen, but still producing excellent fare

Charred Octopus with warm potato salad

Poached Egg with serrano, cockles, garlic-almond sauce

Tuna Carpaccio with curly cress and citrus-ginger vinaigrette

Wild Salmon with horseradish crust, cabbage and riesling

Dessert from Main Dining Room

Petit Fours for Main Dining Room

Main kitchen

Main kitchen

[Pan]

Great photos, Jason (and the presentations are very appealing)!

What's the herb on top of the octopus? The one on top of the poached egg looks like purslane to me, and it seems to reappear atop the tuna carpaccio, along with -- is that jicama? And some red cabbage, or is that red onion? Garnishes interest me.

[Jason Perlow]

The only two of the dishes that you see here we ate were the Clams with Serrano (Which was the only one of the many dishes we tried we thought didn't really work, as the serrano got dried out and too salty and the clams a bit overcooked) and the Tuna Carpaccio, which was fantastic, and yes I do believe the white vegetable is jicama.

We had a lot of other dishes (which we could not photograph in the dining room because the light was very low, hence the blurriness in the bar room shots, I had to heavily post process them) including some of the ones Steven tried, and after sampling close to half of the menu I would have to agree with Steven that the Bar Room is producing very solid three star, and even in some cases with certain dishes (that use luxury ingredients such as foie and black truffles) its well into four star territory. Frankly if the Bar Room cuisine is that strong, I'm scared to think of what can be achieved by Gabriel and his staff in the Main dining room.

[Rachel Perlow]

The three of us probably sampled half the menu. As with Shaw, we were "VIPed out the wazoo" as well. We each ordered 3 items, but before or with each course, they brought out other items for us to try. I highly recommend bringing a celebrity with you to dinner! In fact, there were so many extra courses, that we had no room for dessert. Jason got to sample one while taking some pictures in the kitchen after dinner, while I was getting the car from the garage across the street. Anyway, here's my impression of the items I tried, and I'll try to be objective, but you may feel free to take my praise with a grain of salt if you wish.

The menu consists of three lists. One is cold appetizers, Two is hot appetizers, Three is half-entrees. They "welcome you to construct your meal any way you'd like according to your appetite -- from one plate to a multi-course tasting." I'm listing the dishes in the menu order, not necessarily in the presentation order, but close. We shared tastes of most everything.

from page One:

• Our Own Liverwurst with mustard and lingonberry $8 (Rachel) - This was a very delicious creamy pate, served with country bread and garnished as described, plus cornichon. I'd highly recommend it.
  Foie Gras Torchon with muscat gelee & toasted country bread $17 (house) - This was a more elegant liver presentation. Both were excellent, so if you like liver (although neither was "livery"), it depends on whether you prefer the more refined and buttery foie or the more boldly flavored liverwurst, but I wouldn't order both at the same seating, too filling. Jason is not a liver fan, however he tasted both and liked them both, amazing!
  Peekytoe Crab Salad with marinated endive and chive oil $13 (Ted) - Ted enjoyed it, but I didn't care for this item. I thought the crab was a littly fishy tasting to me. I usually enjoy all forms of crab, but I think the last time I had Peekytoe I didn't care for it either, so it may be just this type of crab I don't like?
  Tuna Carpaccio with curly cress and citrus-ginger vinaigrette $14 (Jason, pictured above) - This was good, Jason and Ted enjoyed this item more than I did, but I'm not a huge fan of raw tuna.
  Steak Tartare with quail egg $14 (house) - Three neophyte tartare tasters, all were won over by this preparation. The presentation is similar to the Arctic Char tartare pictured above, only with a soft boiled quail egg instead of the caviar, all the flavorings already mixed in, not tableside. It was served with crusty bread and was just delicious. Highly recommended.
  

from page Two:

• Tarte Flambee $12 (Ted) - This reminded me of Otto's pizza. A very thin crust with ham, onion and maybe cream instead of cheese? This is a very good item to order if you want to share.
  Poached Egg with serrano, cockles, garlic-almond sauce $12 (house, pictured above) - At first we thought it was a riff on eggs benedict, but there's nothing under that pile of serrano. Some of the serrano was soft, some was crisped (I preferred the crisp), but it was a lot in comparison to the egg and clams. I thought the cockles were great with the sauce. But overall, I wouldn't order this unless I were a huge fan of serrano.
  Wild Mushroom Soup with toasted chorizo ravioli $11 (Rachel) - Wow! Really, really good. Intense mushroom soup, three fried raviolis served on the side, so that you can sample the soup by itself, the ravioli itself, and then soaked in the soup. The soup was thinner than most mushroom soups I'd had in the past, but so flavorful, and only slightly creamy. Highly recommended.
  Grilled Shrimp with a green cabbage and gruyere salad $14 (house) - We all enjoyed this immensely. The shrimp were perfectly cooked, served warm in contrast with the cool salad. We thought the cheese was Parmesan at first and had to refer back to the menu, but it totally worked. Highly recommended.
  Tagliatelle with chanterelles and black truffles $16 (Jason) - Rich and creamy pasta, there was something in there that tasted like ham, although it isn't listed in the description. More filling than most of the other appetizers, so this may be one to share or if you are only ordering two courses.
  Potato and Marrow Cassolette with smoked beef tongue $11 (house) - A decadent hash, lots of butter. This and several other dishes were served in small Staub cast iron-ware that they had to order special and import from France. Recommended to share this.
  

from page Three:

• Grilled Quail with chive spaetzle and lentils $13 (Ted) - I didn't try this, but Ted raved about the lentils.
  Braised Pork Cheeks with sauerkraut and ginger jus $13 (Rachel) - The pork was tender, yet crisped on the edges. I thought it was delicious, but had to bring 2/3 of it home because we were getting quite full. All those tiny portions really start to add up!
  Lamb loin with root vegetables, fennil confit, pear coulis $17 (Jason) - I only had a bite of the lamb and fennil. It was very good, but the lamb was cooked medium well as opposed to the medium rare ordered.
  

As I said above, we were just too full for dessert, so I didn't have any. However, the tea service was excellent. They have many choices and it comes to the table fully brewed in individual pots. The wine list presented at the table is short, just 8 each of white and red. What was especially nice was that they are all available by the 3 oz taste, glass, quartino or bottle and seemed reasonably priced.

[Jason Perlow]

My Comments:

For starters, the bread -- which comes in a cute litle basket. These are mini-me sized tiny baguettes, with a really serious crust and a chew to them -- really gives your jaw some serious exercise, but they went well with dishes such as the foie gras and the steak tartare.

from page One:

• Our Own Liverwurst with mustard and lingonberry - Very strong flavors, mustard being the predominant one mixing with the organ meats. I like it a lot, although I would not necessarily order it at the same time as the Steak Tartare because the flavor profiles are very similar.
  Foie Gras Torchon with muscat gelee & toasted country bread Foie fans should really like this one. I'm not a foie person, but I liked this dish a lot, my first reaction to it was that it was more buttery than foie-like, or rather the liver taste was far less pronounced than other foie I had sampled before.
  Peekytoe Crab Salad with marinated endive and chive oil - I liked this one a lot, but I can see why Rachel might not have liked it. If you are into strong crab flavors this is a good dish.
  Tuna Carpaccio with curly cress and citrus-ginger vinaigrette This was outstanding, with very thin slices of sashimi-grade raw Tuna with an Asian-style vinagrette, which contrasted nicely with the fattiness of the fish.
  Steak Tartare with quail egg - I'd compare it favorably to the Steak Tartare at Le Halles, which is one of the best I have ever had. Strong mustard flavor, excellent quality raw beef.
  

from page Two:

• Tarte Flambee - Very much like a super thin crust pizza, the combination of the ham, onions and cheese/cream, while simple, is elegant and very tasty. Crust on this is absolutely perfect.
  Poached Egg with serrano, cockles, garlic-almond sauce Lots of serrano ham, with a poached egg and small clams. I really didnt get much out of the sauce because the ham pretty much overpowered the dish as it got cooked and saltier as it dried out. It was also awkward to eat, with the serrano being difficult to pull apart. I think that if the cured ham was chopped up and applied to the cockles individually as a garnish and not cooked, it might have worked a bit better.
  Wild Mushroom Soup with toasted chorizo ravioli - Very intensely flavored mushroom soup. Nice contrast with the crispy fried ravioli/wonton like dumplings. Shroom fans will rejoice.
  Grilled Shrimp with a green cabbage and gruyere salad - The shrimps themseles were excellent specimens but the cabbage/gruyere salad was the real star of this dish. I highly recommend this one.
  Tagliatelle with chanterelles and black truffles - Very rich, super intensely creamy pasta dish. Its a small portion but I couldnt even think of finish the whole thing, a few bites were enough.
  Potato and Marrow Cassolette with smoked beef tongue - Phenomenal. Enough butter to kill a horse, though.
  

from page Three:

• Braised Pork Cheeks with sauerkraut and ginger jus - Nice traditional Alsatian dish, but it was very simple and plain compared to the other dishes on the menu. It might be a good foil to an otherwise very rich meal.
  Lamb loin with root vegetables, fennil confit, pear coulis - Excellent quality lamb but I really would have preferred that it was cooked rarer. Fennel and root vegetables was a nice accompaniment, the fennel taste gets more pronounced in cooked form and it has a nice soft and soothing texture, almost creamy.
  

[ludja]

My Comments:

...

Grilled Shrimp with a green cabbage and gruyere salad $14 (house) - The shrimps themseles were excellent specimens but the cabbage/gruyere salad was the real star of this dish. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks for the detailed descriptions and photos, Rachel and Jason.

I'm really intrigued by the grilled shrimp dish; the salad sounds particularly interesting. Do remember by chance more about the 'dressing' for the salad? Was it more a vinagrette or creamy, for eg.? Extra spicing or herbs?

[Jason Perlow]

More of a vinagrette. The gruyere flavor was very pronounced, it added a nice salty/savory component to the dish, went well with the grilled shrimp.

[jogoode]

Thanks for that, Rachel and Jason!

Does the bar take reservations? In other words, do I have to plan ahead if I want to try the liverwurst?

[Rachel Perlow]

I think they take reservations for parties of six or more. If you just want to have a glass of wine at the bar with your liverwurst, I doubt there would be a wait. It was pretty busy for a Wednesday, but not standing room only. Weekends could be a different story.

[oakapple]

I wonder whether the menu and the décor of the Bar Room are in harmony with one another. With appetizer-sized plates averaging $14-15, you're talking about a minimum fifty or sixty bucks a head for a full meal, tax and tip inclusive. I'm sure you can quite easily spend a lot more than that, depending on what you order to drink.

Against that, the tables seem pretty close together, and all of those hardwood surfaces bode for a noisy environment when the room is full. Of course, Meyer and Kreuther had to ensure a contrast between the Bar Room and the main dining room, else there was no point in having both of them. But I wonder if the food in the Bar Room is too formal for the environment?

I ask this based only on the descriptions and photos in this thread. I have not been there.

[fauxtarga]

Some notes on the Bar at the Modern:

-They have an interesting selection of "non-alcoholic cocktails" on the menu, good if that is your kind of thing. Nice glassware for the wine. This was the first thing that tipped me off that this was more than your ordinary museum restaurant. Oh and the fact that it's a very pretty place.

-The four of us got 3 plates each and 1 plate of dessert with little replication. This made us full, but not outrageously so.

-Mushroom soup: I agree, it was excellent.

-Duck 1/2 entree: This was actually introduced as the Venison terrine, which was a curveball along the lines of "Oh how interesting, a deconstructed terrine with all the ingredients next to each other. This is surprisingly mild and tender cut of venison" But then we realized what had happened and it made sense. Nice dish, lightly sauced, there were lychees or some like fruit I recall.

-Actual Venison Terrine: Excellent, nice contrast between meat and other vegetable products.

-Cassolet: This was very rich, lots of the flavor of the butter and creamy potato. I couldn't really place the marrow though - could have been from some of the fat and giving some of that meaty richness, though that could have been the tongue. They also forgot about this dish, and it came out a little late.

-Steak tartare: Very good, it wanted another quail egg. Almost forgot about the bread that came with it, unfortunately. Nice texture, drier than the fish tartares I'm more used to.

-Baekoffe(sp?): interesting combination of tripe, conch, and something else I can't remember with a panko crust. Another rich dish. I only had one bite of this and would get it again to get a better idea of what it's all about. Really tasted the conch in a distinct way.

-Tagliatelle: Oh my, this was good. As comforting as anything can be that has truffles and chanterelles in it.

-Ricotta Crepe Flan: Ricotta + Crepes + Flan + Brulee'd Crust, crepes were integrated into the flan. I've never had anything like this before, but my pastry perspective is limited. The fromage blanc sorbet complimented this extremely well.

-Beignets: This was fun. A member of my party saw it on a nearby table and requested it. The maple ice cream melted as we ate it, mainly because we were using the warm Beignets to scoop up the ice cream. There was also caramel and "citrus mango marmelade," which seemed tart in contrast to the other accompaniments, but was quite nice.

-Ten Hour Cooked Apple: I can't resist anything that's prefaced with the phrase "Ten hour cooked," and the apple was very tender and flavorful as one might expect. Unfortunately, the ratio of apple to the quince gelee was such that the apple overwhelmed the dish and I wanted more of the gelee compliment.

Ordered but did not taste: Tuna carpaccio, black bass, foie, poached egg.

I felt like I was getting a pretty good deal, as far as the prices and level of cuisine was concerned. It didn't seem to be out of sync with the environment, but I was happy enough with the food to not really notice the room, which probably was a little loud. This was a nice introduction to the restaurant - the main dining room was not open on a Sunday. We did, however, take a look at the menu - very interesting. I will definitely go back.

[zeitoun]

I was also at the Bar Room for lunch on saturday.

I was fond of Kreuther at Atelier, I think I am going to be even more fond of him at the Modern. If food at the Bar Room was meant to give you an apercu of what the main dining room menu has to offer, then I am impatiently waiting to go...

We were three and each ordered one appetizer, one entrée and shared two desserts. Here is what we had:

- Sorrel soup with roasted foie gras and barley. I only had a taste of this but that one bite made it a match made in heaven for me. I was dubious about the sorrel and foie gras combo but it worked beautifully.

- Charred Octopus with warm potato. The octopus had a wonderful texture and flavor. The sauce consisted of a mixture of finely chopped hard boiled egg whites and egg yolks, tomatoes, shallots, parsley and maybe a thing or two I may have missed, all in olive oil. It was sensational.

- Smoked eel “rillettes” with turnips and horseradish sauce. The eel came on the plate formed into three quenelles resting on a tiny strip of (steamed?) eel fillet. The eel quenelles had the appearance of “rillette” but certainly not the consistency (there was nothing like pure fat in there). I am not too sure what held the shredded eel meat together but I tasted some heavy cream and minced shallots. In addition to the smoky flavor, I also noticed nice hints of sourness in the quenelles. The turnips were served finely julienned and blanched. The sauce was slightly peppery from the horseradish. I thought all the flavors worked in perfect harmony.

- Calves liver quenelles with spaghetti squash and beet sauce. I was afraid of a strong dry “livery” taste with the ground liver but it was mild and moist enough for me to enjoy it. The squash was shredded more than spaghetti like, and the sauce consisted of a simple beet juice reduction. I really enjoyed the flavors in this dish.

- Grilled quail with chive spaetzle and lentils. The quail was a little too cooked for me but still had a great taste. The lentils and the spaetzle were amazing. The spaetzle crunched in my mouth almost like pop corn.

- Diver scallops with poppy seeds, arugula and parmesan. This was the dish I enjoyed the least. The diver scallops were crusted on the top with poppy seeds. The arugula came as a sauce along with the parmesan. Although everything was cooked to perfection, I found this a little dull flavor wise compared to all the other dishes.

- Ricotta Crepe Flan with orange tuile and fromage blanc sorbet. This was fabulous. This dessert consisted of a ricotta based custard (crusted on top) mounted on a thin piece of crepe. The flan had bits of orange zest in it that complimented the custard superbly. The light tartness of the fromage blanc sorbet was excellent with this.

- Ten-Hour Cooked Apples with quince gelee and rasberry sorbet. This was a little disappointing. The apples were thinly sliced and slowly baked in the oven at a very low temperature. I liked the consistency of the apples but thought they lacked in taste and sweetness. Same goes for the quince gelee which was not quite “quincy”.

I can’t wait to go back, for the three of us with wine and tip, I think we paid $150. A bargain considering what we had. As mentioned many times upthread, the Bar Room certainly presents more than just casual cuisine, give me the same food with a $100 tab per head and I will be happy. Kreuther is really living up to his reputation. My one complaint though was that I wasn’t too crazy about the service, it was flagrant to me and my guests that our waitress did not seem to be very familiar with the menu. I was also a little turned off by the wait staff attire which in my opinion would have been more appropriate at “Republic” on Union Square than a place like the Modern.

Still, I am looking forward to my next visit.

[ewindels]

Run out of dazzlingly hip new restaurants in which to preen? Your brand new Laboutins still languishing in their box with no suitable venue of display? Your just-tailored Seize-sur-vingt gathering dust in the closet? Per Se too last year for you, ADNY too Trump Casino, the very thought of the Meatpacking District giving you the hives? Despair no more, hungerers after the ineffable and elegant: spackle that face and pop on those pumps and make a beeline for The Modern, Danny Meyer’s long- and eagerly anticipated contribution to the recently re-opened Museum of Modern Art.

Make like Alice down the rabbit hole, following the long, winding, white glass wall into the large, lively, glamorously lit bar area, which last week was stuffed with Fendi-suited entertainment execs and scruffy, disheveled artistic types. Grab a place at the bar and order something from the slim but decent pickings of the wines by the glass, or a tolerable cocktail from one of the very young bartenders. Then glide through the crowds into the oasis of the cool, quiet, spare and minimalistically elegant main dining room, where the sedate and subdued vibe is more than made up for by the lustrous view of MOMA’s sculpture garden, which even in bleak late winter looks stunning and no doubt will be even more so once the foliage arrives. Like Per Se, all the tables have the view. (Note that jackets are supposedly required for men in the main room, but at least two gentlemen that we saw weren't wearing any, though the elegance of the venue definitely merits them.)

Torture yourself by perusing the menu here: it’s worth it. Two companions and I sampled the following:

- Sautéed Sullivan County foie gras with “beereweka” fruit chutney, pain d’epices and Trappist Ale reduction

- Foie gras terrine marbled with roasted artichokes and green peppercorns

- Chilled Maine lobster salad with black radish, celery, and Thai long peppercorn sorbet

- Chorizo crusted Chatham cod with white coco bean puree and harissa oil

- Buffalo tenderloin poached in spiced cabernet with roasted endive and shallot-pepper jus

- Roasted wild boar chop with rutabaga “choucroute”, red currants and potato terrine

- Chocolate soufflé, vanilla and pistachio ice cream, chocolate sorbet

- Passion fruit ravioli, coconut tapioca and pistachio parfait

- A milk chocolate hazelnut terrine special, not listed on the menu

I will spare readers the long verbiage about the excellence of each individual dish and simply say that everything was magnificent, with special commendation for the foie gras terrine and the wild boar chop, which was like sex on a plate. When requested to recommend a reasonably priced red to cover our three entrees, the sommelier couldn’t have been nicer (the staff at Daniel could takes some lessons here) and helped us settle on a Casavecchia ’98 from Langhe, which was superb (and which would probably have been even better served via one of the Schott Zwiesel decanters so prevalent at other tables, but that’s purely a stylistic wish). Topped off with dessert wines and mignardises, the entire experience was first rate top to bottom, and more than worth the $140 a person it cost us.

I understand bets are being taken on the Times rating the place will earn. My guess is three: while excellent, I can’t say that the Modern quite reaches the stratosphere of current four star places like Per Se or Jean Georges. That doesn’t make it any less worth the visit (the mini-loaf of lemon glazed pound cake as you exit is a terrific touch), though next time I definitely want to try the bar area, very distinctive from the main room in its livelier atmosphere and separate menu.

[ludja]

My Comments:

...

Grilled Shrimp with a green cabbage and gruyere salad $14 (house) - The shrimps themseles were excellent specimens but the cabbage/gruyere salad was the real star of this dish. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks for the detailed descriptions and photos, Rachel and Jason.

I'm really intrigued by the grilled shrimp dish; the salad sounds particularly interesting. Do remember by chance more about the 'dressing' for the salad? Was it more a vinagrette or creamy, for eg.? Extra spicing or herbs?

←

More of a vinagrette. The gruyere flavor was very pronounced, it added a nice salty/savory component to the dish, went well with the grilled shrimp.

←

Off topic for reviewing the restaurant, but I just wanted to thank you guys for the additional info on this dish.

I 'reverse engineered' (and used some poetic license) to make this for a dinner party last night. It was very well received! My version: vinagrette of shallots, lemon zest, white wine vinegar, roasted walnuts pureed in oil (didn't have any walnut oil at home) with watercress, gruyere cheese sliced the same size as the cabbage and the cabbage. I don't have an indoor grill so I pan fried the shrimp after seasoning with salt and pepper and dredging in rice flour. The rice flour makes a very thin crisp coating. I made little cabbage towers out of the chilled salad and interlocked two freshly cooked shrimp on top.

[bilrus]

My wife and I had dinner in the dining room at the Modern last night.

After sepending an afternoon roaming the museum itself, we returned later in the evening cleaned up a bit and were led around the wall of the bar room into the dimly lit, spare and appropriately "modern" dining room. And don't be fooled by the look of the stylish chairs, they're very comfortable. The room is at ground level with the sculpture garden and we were seated near a Picasso goat sculpture. I was surprised that at 9 on a Saturday (what I would consider prime time) that the fairly small room was not copmpletely full, with six or seven empty tables.

We were started with two rounds of amuse. The first was a small plate with two each of a small beggar's purse of trout and trout fish roe, a mushroom terrine on brioche and a spiced apple muffin, none bigger than a half-dollar. I was surprised by the second, more substantial amuse of a halibut(?) tartare, a shot glass salad of frisee, radish and apple and a shot glass of celery juice. All fo these were good, but nothing knocked my socks off and I thought there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the progression. But things were about to pick up.

For appetizers was had the "Chilled Maine Lobster salad with black radish, celery and Thai long peppercorn sorbet" and the "Langoustines wrapped in smoked Applewood bacon with spicy organic yogurt and cardamom oil". Both were very well done. The lobster took a few minutes to grow on us, but the lobster was very tender (I have a problem with chewy lobster) and the sorbet gave just a whiff of spice, but a whollop of temperature contrast that I thought was fun. The langoustines were incredibly meaty and the tang from the yogurt helped balance the smokiness of the bacon.

Entrees were the "Chorizo crusted Chatham Cod with white coco bean puree and hariss oil" and "Chicken Three Ways" which was a roasted breast served with hen of the woods (?) mushrooms and spinach (I asked for and recieved a substitue of asparagus due to an unfortuante spinach incident I've not reovered from), a confit leg and a chicken sausage served in a separate dish with split pea pods and morels in a cream sauce.

I've noted elsewhere that "___ three ways" is on its way to becoming one of those menu cliches, but I'm still into the idea. The components of this dish were all excellently prepared - crispy, moist breast, flavorful leg meat and a sausage that had the consistency of a fluffy egg white. I did think it was a little strange to have two different sets of green veg / mushroom combos and think it would be mor eimpressive and visually interesting with all the veriations on the same plate, but this was definietly not a boring chicken dish.

The Cod was a standout (enough so that I only got two small tastes). The bean puree actually came as a continuum - ranging from whole beans on the left of the fish to a foam on the right of the fish. Thin slices of chorizo were layered on top and broiled to a near crisp crust. My wife said she thought it was the best fish dish she's ever had - That's certainly saying something.

A pre-dessert of a line sorbet with lime gelee and blood oranges was a vibrant palate cleanser.

Desserts shined too. "Caramel parfait with ten-flavor sorbet and mago marmalade" consisted of a "tropical fruit punch" like sorbet, diced mango and a luscious timbale of creamy caramel frozen custard. The "Milk Chocolate Dacquoise with raspberry sorbet" was sweet and tart and crisp and "chocolate-y". This place has a way with sorbets - intensely fruity, but almost "chewy" in texture

Still not done, we were brought a plate of several cookies, browines and macaroons and a small dish of chocolates. And a bag with the not-so small lemon pound cake went home with us.

This was a great meal in a great setting and I don't use the word great lightly. I was impressed and surprised that they pull out the stops like they do. Service was friendly, yet polished (big surprise from a Meyer restaurant). And the food, both savory and sweet was excellent. We only had two glasses of wine, so we didn't get to see the full wine service, but the sauternes they paired for us was right on.

I don't live in New York, so it is hard for me to put the meal in an overall perspective, but I'd put this one meal well above a very good meal last year at three-stars Gramercy Tavern and my two most recent meals at Babbo (admittedly a very different style of place). If my meal at Per Se last spring is the standard for a four-star, it's not quite there, but I'd agree with the previous poster that this was a strong three-star plus meal.

Edited March 21, 2005 by bilrus (log)

[Liz B-F]

After an afternoon looking at Klees and an evening movie at the MoMA last night, we went to have a drink at the bar--and now I understand all the hype about the Danny Meyer service ethic!

I was trying to decide which wine to try and we started chatting with the bartender. I ordered a glass of rioja and my boyfriend (a non-drinker) ordered ginger beer. I mentioned that I had just successfully defended my dissertation (I can't stop bragging about it), and he brought us a tarte flambee and then tuna tartare and then asked if we were still hungry. (Meanwhile, our glasses were refilled like at a dear friends' house after a long absence.) He showed us the dessert menu, and brought the tangerine carpaccio and an espresso (which my boyfriend had ordered), plus the hazelnut dacquoise (which my boyfriend had exclaimed over, but not ordered...he loves the dacquoise at Tartine with a burning passion), plus a 20-year-old tawny port for me to sip with the dacquoise, which reminded me again of why I'm not a teetotaler like my boyfriend. The bill for the two of us came to $14.95, for the espresso and two of the four or five ginger beers. It was the most wonderfully special evening, and it felt like a good omen and exactly the right kind of start to this new stage in my life.

The big bar is so satisfying...futuristic and sleek but somehow homey...the stools are incredibly comfortable. The lighting is just right. I imagine the bar is as comfortable as a table...at any rate, you can eat there without being at all cramped. The food we had was well-matched to the bar space...it was elegant but not fussy and just right for snacking. The tarte flambee is the perfect snack for two...it's smoky with an ultra-thin crust, really as thin as a tortilla, yet it manages to hold the toppings while getting neither hard nor soggy. The tuna carpaccio was melt-in-your-mouth good, and probably my favorite thing we tried, but then I love raw tuna. The tangerine carpaccio was nice but very light--it wouldn't be a substantial enough dessert for me on its own--and the dacquoise was to die for. Yum.

Anyhow, we were "VIPed up the wazoo" and treated like royalty for no reason other than that we were people celebrating a special occasion.

[mjr_inthegardens]

Review link

Andrea Strong reviews Danny Meyer's The Modern

http://www.andreastrong.com/belly/belly_vi...hp?belly_id=132

[Rosie]

What type of menu items? Any recommendations? Prices?

[BryanZ]

It's on menupages.com.

[raxelita]

What type of menu items?  Any recommendations?  Prices?

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I recommend staying within the first two parts of the menu. The more "main" dishes were spotty on a recent visit, particularly the pork cheeks, which were dry and soft in a most unpallatable way, and overpowered by thier accompanying saurkraut.

Superb:

Seak tartare with Quail egg

Octopus salad

Tuna carpaccio

Quite good:

Tarte flambee

Arctic Char tartare

Wild Salmon with reisling cabbage

peekytoe crab salad

shrimp salad

Check menupages.com for prices and full menu.

[Rosie]

Menupages.com has the dining room menu listed not the menu for the Bar Room. Is the Bar Room a la carte or a 3 course tasting menu?