THE JOURNAL
Pork, lettuce and tomato. Photograph by Mr Evan Sung, courtesy of The Modern, New York
Feast your eyes on the places where you can order culture with a side of gastronomy.
In the not-so-distant past, the gallery restaurant was a place to be avoided, like rush-hour travel and the sun at midday. But, like both those things, it was at times inescapable. You needed food, and so you paid your money and took your chance. And, as often happens when you take such a gamble, the house usually won: waxy sandwiches and cakes that surpasseth all understanding. It was as if the gallery owners and museum directors had collectively decided that the great art was all the nourishment you needed.
Not so any more, mercifully. You can nourish mind and body in the great institutions today, which we can all agree is rather nice. As with all places to do with food or art, quality is variable. Not to worry, though, because we sent our art-hungry correspondents out to eat their way around the art and bring you the best of the crop.
Odette, National Gallery, Singapore
Photograph courtesy of Odette
Heirloom beetroot variation. Photograph courtesy of Odette
White, shimmering and a bit chimerical, Odette is housed in Singapore’s National Gallery. The room is a corker: Ms Dawn Ng’s installations drift from the ceiling, apparently exploring the visual beauty of chef Mr Julien Royer’s menu. Designer Mr Sacha Leong dealt with the interior, giving it a soft, silken hue. Mix in Mr Royer’s two-Michelin-starred French food – think seared foie gras, miso caramel, lemon quinoa and Japanese strawberries – and wines selected by sommelier Mr Vincent Tan, and you have something rather unmissable. Plus, the gallery is no slouch, either.
What to wear
Esker Grove, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Photograph courtesy of the Walker Art Center
Spit-roasted sturgeon with caramelised lemon, hearts of palm and ash. Photograph courtesy of the Walker Art Center
You’ve got heady on the Lichtenstein and Sol LeWitts in the Sculpture Garden, and now it’s time for still more escapism at the Esker Grove restaurant. Newly opened by chef Mr Doug Flicker, formerly of Piccolo, its main attraction is its modern veg-centric menu. Each bowl of food is meant to resemble a painterly composition; whether it’s the Esker Grove salad, where herbs and seaweeds entwine their delicate tendrils, or the autumnal risotto, intoxicating with fleshy mushrooms and flecks of salty Parmesan, it all looks as if it could end up on the walls at some juncture.
What to wear
The Source Restaurant, Mona, Hobart
Photograph by Mr Rémi Chauvin, courtesy of Mona
Seared scallops, BBQ corn, greens, basil oil, olive purée, saffron and verjus, served on the living, moss-covered table at The Source Restaurant. Photograph by Mr Rémi Chauvin, courtesy of Mona
Hobart in Tasmania is Australia’s second-oldest city, and has experienced something of a foodie renaissance in recent years. Quixotically, this is down to the opening of the Mona (Museum of Old and New Art), set up by Mr David Walsh in 2011. As well as the museum, there is a stellar restaurant, The Source, named appropriately after a Mr John Olsen painting hanging in the foyer. The menu, by executive chef Mr Vince Trim, has been created to match the surrounding landscape and change with the seasons. Charmingly named cheeses – Coal River Farm triple cream and Tasmanian tongola – are from a few nearby farms; wine is from the backyard’s Moorilla winery; vegetables are locally sourced. We recommend the steak tartare with cured egg yolk, fermented black garlic and linseeds.
What to wear
The Modern, MOMA, New York
Photograph by Mr Benjamin Johnson, courtesy of The Modern
Salad with pecorino and persimmon. Photograph by Mr Evan Sung, courtesy of The Modern
Up there with the Mirós, Matisses and Picassos held within New York’s Museum of Modern Art is the vast ground-floor restaurant, The Modern. Mr Abram Bissell, whose CV includes the upscale NoMad and Eleven Madison Park, has bagged two Michelin stars for the place, and you can see why. The menu is a finely honed collection of well-engineered combos such as hamachi tartare marinated in radishes, drizzled with a dashi sauce, and a toothsome fricassée of lobster with fava beans, fennel and tomato. The breezy adroitness of the cooking is complemented by a minimalist interior and glass wall, allowing guests to get an eyeful of the sculpture garden as they eat their chicken poached in champagne. Alternatively, if you prefer the artistry of the kitchen, head straight for the Kitchen Table and its front-row seats on the action.
What to wear
RIJKS®, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Photograph by Mr Erik Smits, courtesy of RIJKS®
Spit-roasted root celeriac with oyster aioli and black radish. Photograph by Mr Jan-Kees Steenman, courtesy of RIJKS®
In Amsterdam’s famed 19th-century gallery, executive chef Mr Joris Bijdendijk (formerly of Ron Blaauw, Le Jardin des Sens and Bridges) plates up handsome dishes packed with flavour. Think monkfish tail and cheek, kohlrabi with oyster, and BBQ duck hearts with goat’s yogurt and a masala sauce – all of which practically fizz, so punchy are they. In keeping with this “modern Netherlander” approach, the design is all Anglepoise lighting and parquet flooring. Rather recherché too is the carousel of guest chefs: Hong Kong-based Mr Matt Abergel, Australia’s Mr Dan Hunter and Britain’s Mr Fergus Henderson have all popped in for a spin at the stove.
What to wear
Spritmuseum, Stockholm
Photography by Mr Erik Olsson, courtesy of Spritmuseum
Slow-baked hake with burned onion purée and onions pickled with spruce. Photograph by Mr Per-Anders Jörgensen, courtesy of Spritmuseum
It was that great tippler Mr George Bernard Shaw who said, “Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life,” and it does rather perk up an evening, doesn’t it? Especially if you have spent the day touring Stockholm’s museum of spirits, housed in an 18th-century former navy building. Not only is this museum dedicated to inebriants, with exhibitions on vodka, champagne and just about everything else that brings about that happy state, it also has a very good restaurant indeed. With a backdrop of harbour and sea, New Nordic chef Mr Petter Nilsson shepherds the visiting crowds through a refined menu, using ingredients from local organic farms and his own fair hand: he is often found foraging for comestibles in the nearby woods. The menu is a seasonal tasting number, but a happy reoccurrence on it is lamb from Sörmland with fennel.
What to wear
Nerua, Guggenheim, Bilbao
Photograph courtesy of Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao
Crayfish, stir-fried tomatoes and pilpil sauce. Photograph courtesy of Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao
They say Mr Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim put Bilbao on the map, and so it did. But it’s not just the art drawing in the crowds. The gallery’s restaurant, Nerua, has become a flagship of the Basque Country’s cuisine – no mean feat considering food here is a sort of secular religion. Chef Mr Josean Alija, alumnus of chef-god Mr Ferran Adrià, makes avant-garde dishes befitting such a stunning building. Squid puntilla with blonde clam and artichoke juice; baby trout, prawn broth and garlic; and lágrima peas, Swiss chard broth and chilli pepper are just a few of the knockouts. The décor is pared back, a sea of white from ceiling to tablecloths, with only the chairs, designed by Mr Gehry himself, deviating from the theme.
What to wear
Bibo, Hong Kong
Bibo, Hong Kong. Photograph courtesy of Bibo
Rouget, cockles and Brussels sprouts. Photograph courtesy of Bibo
Pass through Bibo’s portals and you’ll discover walls dotted with street art by the likes of KAWS and contemporary Japanese artist Mr Takashi Murakami; a popular piece is Banksy’s boxed taxidermy rodent with a spray-paint slogan ominously noting, “our time will come”. This is, the owners claim, the first gallery restaurant where the pictures and the food are given equal billing. As of spring this year, Bibo’s kitchen has been helmed by Mr Nicholas Chew, previously of glitzy Serge et le Phoque, so the six-course tasting menu is accomplished modern French, carefully matched with top wines – something that is abundantly clear if you order, and order you must, the scallops with coconut and foam with a white Bordeaux.