The best museum eats

The Bar Room at the Modern
Ever since Danny Meyer took over the MoMA’s concessions in 2007, things have been looking up. Though dining options include the James Beard Award–winning Modern, we favor its more casual annex. Museum-quality art—The Clearing (2003) by Thomas Demand hangs here—provides an elegant backdrop for chef Gabriel Kreuther’s Alsatian-tinged menu. Classics like tarte flambé ($14) and the more contemporary buttermilk panna cotta with strawberry sorbet ($12) remind us that art can be edible, too. 9 W 53rd St between Fifth and Sixth Aves (212-333-1220)

Sarabeth’s at the Whitney
Skip the lines for brunch at Sarabeth’s on the Upper West Side and head east to its restaurant at the Whitney, where friendly staff will seat you right away. International tourists, vacationing families and neighborhood types tuck into generous omelettes ($9.50) and toast slathered with Sarabeth’s famous fruit preserves. A pumpkin waffle ($12) is fantastically moist and barely sweet with a dollop of sour cream that cuts the Vermont maple syrup; raisins and green pumpkin seeds dress every last inch, leaving you with something between a breakfast of granola and yogurt and hearty decadence. 945 Madison Ave at 75th St (212-570-3670)

The Café @ RMA
The Rubin’s Himalayan exhibitions may run for months at a stretch, but the specials change daily at the Café @ RMA, giving you reason enough to drop by whether you’re gearing up to galleryhop or just running errands in Chelsea. North Indian finger food like spicy pakoras ($10), and the Anglo-Indian mulligatawny soup ($6.50) make for satisfying quick lunches. The excellent potato and pea samosa ($9.75) packs an entire spice rack worth of heat—dip the corners in salty rhubarb chutney to cool off, though you may wind up slurping the rose-hued sauce by the spoonful. 150 W 17th St at Seventh Ave (212-620-5000)

Garden Court Café
The Asia Society’s sculptures, ceramics and contemporary multimedia installations cover about as much territory as the Pan-Asian menu in the tranquil Garden Court Café. Sip a glass of floral iced tea, like the lili’uokalani, mixed with mango and pomegranate juice ($4), while relaxing beneath the flowering trees in the atrium. Meanwhile, a delicately fried crab cake ($12) with rich lemon aioli and a side salad of fennel tossed in lime juice and cilantro is very East-meets–Upper East Side. Though you don’t have to visit the museum to enjoy the peaceful eatery, you might not be able to resist. 725 Park Ave between 70th and 71st Sts (212-570-5202)

Café Sabarsky
The Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was known for his sumptuous “Golden Style,” in which portraits of women incorporated the precious metal in as many ways as possible. Though we can’t promise the same level of luxury at the Neue Galerie’s Café Sabarsky, it comes pretty close. The Austro-German museum’s destination café—located in the drawing room of a Beaux Arts mansion—showcases chef Kurt Gutenbrunner’s superb Viennese pastry. Linger over some of the city’s best coffee (try the Wiener Melange—espresso with hot milk and a foam crown) with flaky apple strudel ($8) or bratwurst over riesling-braised sauerkraut with hot mustard ($14). Unlike Klimt’s ladies, you may not feel like disrobing after a feast of this magnitude. 1048 Fifth Ave at 86th St (212-288-0668)

Smörgås Chef
If your summer vacation doesn’t include a trip to the land of the midnight sun, get a little closer with a visit to Scandinavia House, the city’s home for contemporary art from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Scandinavian culinary culture, meanwhile, comes courtesy of this outpost of Smörgås Chef. The whimsical decor features a white picket fence and silvery birch tree, while the effervescent menu offers fresh lingonberry soda ($3.50), a house-cured herr ing sampler with triangles of traditional lefse (crêpelike potato pancakes, $12) and a finale of an airy vanilla waffle served with cloudberry preserves and chantilly ($6). 58 Park Ave at 37th St (212-847-9745)

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