About The Modern
Inside the Museum of Modern Art, there is a restaurant that earns two Michelin stars on its food alone — without relying on the extraordinary backdrop. That it also overlooks the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, through floor-to-ceiling glass, is simply a bonus that no other dining room in New York can claim. The Modern is Danny Meyer's most refined and ambitious room, and Executive Chef Thomas Allan has run the kitchen since 2021 with the controlled verve of someone who understands that this address demands perfection.
The main dining room operates on a prix fixe model at dinner — two innovative tasting menus, one eight courses, one five, each built around the precision and unexpectedness that have always defined this kitchen. A miso-glazed monkfish with yuzu beurre blanc. Duck with fermented black garlic and micro-watercress. A dessert of burnt honey and frozen yogurt that arrives looking like an abstract sculpture and tastes entirely of summer. Allan cooks with global sensibility and no affectation — there is nothing here to show off except the quality of the ingredients and the exactness of the technique.
The Bar Room, separated from the main dining room by a low partition, offers à la carte dining at dinner — more accessible in price, equally serious in execution. At lunch, the main dining room offers a three-course prix fixe that rivals many New York dinners. The wine list has been maintained with institutional seriousness: Burgundy, Champagne, and serious American bottles sit alongside natural wines selected with genuine enthusiasm rather than trend-chasing. The sommelier team is among the finest in the city.
Service in the main dining room is impeccable without being stiff. There is warmth here — an acknowledgment that the greatest luxury is feeling entirely taken care of. The proximity to MoMA means that many tables precede or follow a museum visit, adding layers of context that no other dining room can manufacture.
