NYC Dining: Terrace 5

Terrace 5 Cafe
11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues
New York, NY 10019-5497
Museum of Modern Art, NYC

Web Site: http://www.momacafes.com/cafes.html

My parents had arrived Thanksgiving weekend from Florida to spend some time in the city with their friends, see a Broadway show, and of course, to spend some time with us. We decided to spend the Saturday afternoon at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, in particular to see the Van Gogh and Joan Miro exhibits currently being displayed.

The issue of course came up of where to go for lunch. Naturally, of course, I suggested THE MODERN, Danny Meyer‘s exquisite fine dining flagship restaurant, commanded by Alsatian chef Gabriel Kreuther. My parents, who are recently retired, and frugally minded given the current economy, didn’t want us to put ourselves out. So I decided that perhaps it was time to try one of the two cafes in the MoMA itself — Terrace 5, which is also run by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group.

We chose Terrace 5 because of the two cafes, it had table service and there was going to be 5 of us, and offered a 3-course prix fixe lunch menu for $27.00 per person. However, if you’re a single diner and want even more casual dining, Cafe 2 on the 2nd floor, which incidentally is right next to the Van Gogh exhibit, is also an excellent choice.

Terrace 5, on the fifth floor of the Museum of Modern Art, overlooks the galleries and an interactive multimedia “couch” with a video wall and soothing electronic mood music.

Terrace 5 has a very minimalist but bright and modern European decor, not unlike the main dining room at THE MODERN.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

The pass is a neat place to watch all the colorful plates come out.

Turkey Sandwiches with rustic bread and Chestnut Soup were in the offering, although they didn’t appear on the menu that day. I guess USHG had a LOT of leftover turkey left from Thanksgiving!

This is a very pretty Duck & Pork Prosciutto Tart, with figs, mascarpone, served with mixed greens. We didn’t order this, but it looked really nice.

House Cured Salmon & Shrimp Salad with green lentils, white beans, horseradish vinaigrette. Another dish that we didn’t order but looked great.

Rachel started with a colorful Roasted Beet & Spiced Pear Salad with ricotta cheese, aleppo pepper and citrus vinaigrette.

Chickpea & Butternut Squash Bruschetta — rustic ciabatta bread, ricotta salata, arugula salad. This had a little bit of smokiness to it, which I beleive came from Spanish paprika or a pureed smoked pepper.

My father went with the Puréed Chestnut Soup with sautéed shitakes, micro greens. This was very nice, definitely fit the cold weather, although a little sweet to my taste. My dad really liked it, however.

Both my mother and Aunt Roz went with the Chicken and Vermicelli Noodle Salad with
grapefruit & orange, avocado, peanuts, cilantro,Thai chili vinaigrette.

Three of us went with the Seared Rare Steak Salad with arugula, parmigiano, caperberries, tomato & frizzled onions garlic anchovy dressing.

If you’ve been wondering why we all had light cuisine for lunch, its because Terrace 5 specializes in really fantastic desserts. And with four of us getting the Prix Fixe menu and getting a dessert, that meant we were going to share 4 desserts. This is a killer Lemon Tart with almond cream and fresh fruit.

The MoMA sundae with raspberry & fromage blanc sorbets, cheesecake, fresh berries, vanilla sauce.

Pistachio sundae — pistachio & vanilla ice cream, almond biscuit, caramel sauce, caramel tuile.

Chocolate raspberry flourless cake, raspberry ganache, chantilly cream.