food comas

Members Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Executive Chef: Fred Sabo
Cuisine: Contemporary American
Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Price: $62 per person prix fixe, $39 for wine pairing, à la carte menu also available
Address: 1000 5th Avenue, NY, NY 10028
Phone: 212-535-7710
Hours:
Lunch Fri: 12–2:30pm, Sat 11:30am-2:30pm, Sunday 11am-3pm; Tues-Thurs 112pm-2:30pm
Dinner Fri-Sat 5:30–10:30pm

As a member of the Met (fancy, I know), I have never really used the perks of the membership. Truth be told, I got the membership in order to go to the annual Young Member’s Party as it is a chance to dress up and sip some bubbly on the rooftop overlooking the Central Park. But a couple of friends and I got intrigued by a French-inspired menu and so we decided to pay a visit to the Member’s Dining Room for dinner one weekend.

The dining room to me is quintessentially old school. The walls are paneled in wood, the linens are white, chairs upholstered. It’s not dimly lit like the trendy cavernous restaurants downtown. And the clientele is understandably older as well. This, however, did not deter us from going or having a great time.

An American in Paris (copied from the menu)
A Prix Fixe inspired by The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. This menu features dishes served from the Left Bank to the Champs-Elysées at the bohemian haunts and home of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas.

This theme definitely reminded me of watching Midnight in Paris. If only the lights were a bit dimmer, some live jazz was playing, and maybe if it had rained outside…

Now onto the meal. The food, as I expected, was excellent. Every course was flavorful and satisying. I was not a huge fan of the dessert, however, but I do tend to favor savory over sweet anyway.

Breadsticks with a pesto dip
Nice crunchy snack

Escargots en Croûte – garlic, herbs, cognac
I haven’t had escargots in a while; loved them on top of the flaky phyllo dough but you can’t really go wrong with these buttery, slippery little suckers.

Grilled Quail with Endive – toasted almonds, golden raisins
I realize my quail looks a bit suggestive, but hey, the theme is Paris in the 1920’s and so it’s kind of apropos. I absolutely adore quail, especially the one at L’Artusi, and this preparation of it while on the bed of endive was delightful.

Sea Scallops with Black Truffle à la Nage – celery root potato purée, Brussels sprouts leaves
Excellent scallops with an added touch of decadence from the black truffle; almost melted in my mouth with the celery root potato purée

Grand Marnier Savarin – citrus strawberries, toasted almond ice cream
The pastry was too sweet for me, but I did like the ice cream and citrus strawberries