Museum restaurants with great food and fabulous views
World-class fare at these venues fills hungry tourists after a day of taking in art
After a day of taking in culture and admiring art, travellers have earned their coffee and a fantastic view.
Whether you are planning a romantic dinner or just looking for a spot to grab a light meal during your next day at a museum, museum restaurants can fit the bill.
Online site VirtualTourist.com selected its Top 5 Museum Restaurants: 1. Musée d’Orsay Restaurant & Cafe Campana, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Museums are one of the most highly regarded architectural landmarks of our time, but few new buildings can compare to the history of the Musée d’Orsay. Housed in a former train station, the museum holds some of the greatest artistic treasures from 1848 to the mid-20th century. Attached to the station was a luxury hotel, the dining room of which was preserved and turned into the museum’s main restaurant. With gilded ceilings and ornate chandeliers, it is just as dramatic as it was when it opened more than 100 years ago.
The museum also revamped the Café de l’Horloge in its recent renovation. Now called the Café Campana, the eatery located behind the building’s clock face was inspired both by Emile Galle, a French glassmaker, and the Art Nouveau movement. The main restaurant hosts a Thursday evening deal, which includes a discovery menu, drinks and entrance to the museum’s collections for € 55.
2. The Modern at MoMA, New York. Few restaurants in general can boast a Michelin star or three stars from the New York Times, but the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has garnered both.
The restaurant is part of chef Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, serving French-American cuisine with Alsatian influence.
The Dining Room serves a prix-fixe menu and overlooks 31 sculptures in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
The venue also has a more casual option, the Bar Room, which serves small plates and accepts walk-ins. Offerings include Langoustine and Razor Clam Tartare, Squab and Foie Gras Croustillant and a Modern Black Forest Fantaisie. 3. Collections Cafe at Chihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle. Located in Seattle Center in the shadow of the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass spans 1.5 acres and provides an overview of the career and work of glass artist Dale Chihuly. In addition to the centrepiece Glasshouse, the Exhibition Hall houses eight galleries and the Collections Cafe, the venue’s primary eatery. The Cafe decor highlights Chihuly’s passion for collecting, including his collection of vintage accordions, which hang from the ceiling.
The menu is inspired by Chihuly’s travels. Ingredients and wines are sourced from the Northwest. Highlights include a variety of fish dishes, as well as pork, meatball and lamb dishes.
The venue serves lunch, dinner and a weekend brunch menu, which makes it convenient for any visitors to Seattle Center.
4. Ray’s and Stark Bar at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Just less than three years old, Ray’s at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is a truly Californian take on museum dining.
In the centre of the BP Grand Entrance, the restaurant is completely open to the courtyard and provides great people-watching and al fresco dining, as well as a view of Chris Burden’s Urban Light sculpture. With a garden on site and a woodburning oven and grill, the restaurant’s cuisine emphasizes farm-totable, seasonal fare, including peppers and sunchokes from the garden, wood-fired pizzas and a variety of small plates. The venue garnered press for its extensive Water Menu, offering 20 different types of bottled water from around the world.
If you’re planning on visiting L.A. this month, Ray’s will be participating in DineLA week, serving a threecourse menu for only $35. (DineLA, Los Angeles’ restaurant week, runs Jan. 20-31.)
5. Acropolis Museum Restaurant, Athens. Most travellers to Greece plan to visit ruins. They can also admire them during a delicious meal. The Acropolis Museum is only 300 metres from the Acropolis itself, on the pedestrian walkway of Dionysiou Areopagitou St., the central route for exploring the city’s archeological sites. This convenient loca- tion makes it a great place to grab a bite after a long day of exploring the ruins. The museum’s restaurant provides panoramic, unobstructed views of the Acropolis and a menu comprised of hot dishes based on traditional Greek favourites. The restaurant is open during museum opening hours, but also on Friday nights, when it stays open until midnight and offers exceptional night views of the Acropolis. Virtualtourist.com, McClatchy-Tribune News Service