Hi there. Let’s face it: It’s been a conservative year for restaurant openings. People are apparently spending less (or those of us who aren’t in the one-percent are). Prices are going up — and diners have been less adventurous than previous years. That’s part of what makes a crop of new museum restaurants among the most interesting spots to dine around New York lately— even if the food isn’t groundbreaking. They’re encouraging us to go beyond the dining room for entertainment. The rooms are often striking and filled with museum-worthy things. And some of them have proven to be really quite good. Have you been trying them out? (So far my favorite is Ned Baldwin’s Zoli in East Williamsburg).
Today, we’re spotlighting the newest museum restaurant opening in October, this one from DeVonn Francis at MoMA PS1. Also in the newsletter: An uptown restaurant is closing after 45 years. Thanks for reading. — Melissa McCart, lead editor, Northeast
DeVonn Francis, the chef behind Caribbean-leaning pop-up and dinner series Yardy World, is opening his first restaurant inside MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens. Before the restaurant officially opens in late October, Francis will preview some of the food during Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair at PS1, running from Thursday, September 24 through Sunday, September 27.
Called Symone — named for his niece — Francis describes the cooking as French African, drawing on his Jamaican and Caribbean roots, with a menu of seafood, salads, sandwiches, soups, and pastries. Dishes include a curry chicken salad sandwich, patties, cod and rice porridge, and soft serve, with coffee from La Cabra.
“I believe that the extension of food in a museum fortifies it as a cultural center, giving visitors a reason to return again and again,” Francis said in a statement. “[The name is] a reference to our relationship, and to the dynamics that come with familiarity, with getting to know a place over time.”
Symone arrives as art-adjacent restaurants are seeing an uptick. In July, the newly expanded New Museum also opened Oberon, its first full-service restaurant, with the Oberon Group and chefs Julia Sherman (who has since left) and Ali Ghriskey behind a vegetable-forward American menu. Zoli, from Houseman chef Ned Baldwin, opened in late April at Amant, the contemporary art campus in East Williamsburg, with a seafood menu and a dining room built around a three-part aquarium installation by artist Pierre Huyghe. Marcel followed in April inside the Marcel Breuer-designed building on Madison Avenue that is Sotheby’s global headquarters. From the team behind La Mercerie, with chef Marie-Aude Rose in the kitchen, it serves a French continental menu amid objects that are largely for sale. Together, the openings have made museum and art-world restaurants some of the higher-profile dining debuts of the year.
Other museum restaurants that have held their own include Robert, on the ninth floor of the Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle, overlooking Central Park. Brooklyn Botanic Garden has Yellow Magnolia Cafe, its daytime restaurant overlooking the garden. There’s also the Modern at MoMA, the currently closed Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie on track to reopen in October, and Frenchette Bakery at the Whitney.
PS1 has cycled through several restaurants. Most recently, the museum had Ora’s Market, a grab-and-go cafe selling sandwiches, salads, coffee, and drinks. Before that was Mina’s, chef Mina Stone’s Greek cafe, which opened in 2019 and closed in June 2023. Mina’s replaced M. Wells Dinette, the museum restaurant from Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis, which closed in 2019.
Francis founded Yardy World in 2017, using the culinary studio as an umbrella for pop-ups, dinner parties, events, and collaborations centered on Caribbean food and culture. His projects have crossed into fashion and art, including work with Gucci, Converse, and Burberry. Francis studied at Cooper Union and later worked at New York restaurants including Estela and Altro Paradiso. In May, he served as executive chef for MoMA PS1’s 50th anniversary gala.
For Symone, Francis is working with architectural studio Marsollier Villacorta on a space that will use warm natural materials while retaining details from PS1’s original life as a 19th-century public school. There will also be outdoor dining on the museum terrace. The cafe will operate during museum hours. Admission to MoMA PS1 is free.
Jean-Georges is one step closer to taking over the prime real estate that is Bryant Park Grill.
Major Food Group — behind Carbone’s, Torrisi, Parm, and others, makes “in excess of $500 million” a year.
Say it isn’t so: Brooklyn Cyclones withheld tips from concession workers.
After 45 years on the Upper West Side, Good Enough to Eat is closing on Sunday, August 30.
.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.