The Modern NYC Review: Inside a two-Michelin-starred meal beside MoMA, where caviar, truffles, sculptural plates—and one very strange spoon—made fine dining feel less formal than expected.
The Modern at a Glance
Location: 9 West 53rd Street, beside the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan
Cuisine: Contemporary American fine dining
Price during my visit: The tasting menu cost $275 per person. The Discovery wine pairing was $195, the Reserve pairing was $350, and the black-truffle risotto supplement was $50. Prices and menus may have changed.
Standout dishes: Eggs on Eggs on Eggs, lobster with shiso and radish, black-truffle risotto, sea bass with squid, and crusted venison with morels and bacon
Best cocktail: The Kaleidoscopic—a reposado tequila Old-Fashioned with cacao, Calvados and chile
Reservations: Strongly recommended for the main dining room. The Bar Room offers a more relaxed and less expensive introduction to The Modern.
Best for: Special occasions, Michelin-starred dining and visitors who want a memorable meal beside MoMA’s sculpture garden
My verdict: The Modern delivers precise cooking, impeccable service and enough playful moments to keep its formal dining room from feeling like a museum exhibit.
Date visited: July 2026
What to Expect at The Modern NYC
The plaques outside The Modern do not leave much room for a casual entrance. Two Michelin stars are displayed before you sit down, and the message is clear: this is supposed to be serious food.
Inside, the mood softens. The dining room overlooks MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, and Chef Thomas Allan’s cooking follows the same tension as the setting—clean and controlled, but never cold. The meal I photographed was meticulous without feeling trapped by its own prestige.
Inside The Modern NYC Tasting Menu
The tasting began with two compact bites: a smoked salmon tartlet and tuna with celery. From there came lobster with shiso and radish, presented on long black spoons over crushed ice. The menu names were spare, but the plates carried several textures and temperatures at once.
Then came “eggs on eggs on eggs,” and I immediately understood why it is one of The Modern’s signature dishes. It arrived in a smooth, white, egg-shaped porcelain vessel with a crisp brioche “soldier” beside it. The presentation was so clean and sculptural that I almost did not want to disturb it. Almost. This is a dish you have to break into, stir together and scoop up, and that is where the fun begins.
Inside was fried-egg sauce, a poached hen’s egg, Schrenckii caviar, dill oil and pickled shallots. The name sounds playful, but the cooking was serious. The egg was rich and creamy, the caviar added salt and that delicate pop, and the pickled shallots cut through everything at exactly the right moment. The brioche brought the crunch and made sure none of the sauce was left behind. It was luxurious without being ridiculous—although “eggs on eggs on eggs” is still a wonderfully ridiculous name.
What I loved most was that the dish came from something so simple. Chef Thomas Allan based it on egg and soldiers, the childhood breakfast he ate growing up in Sarnia, Ontario. The Modern turns that memory into a two-Michelin-starred caviar course, but the basic pleasure has not changed: break the egg, dip the toast and get every last bit. That connection between comfort food and fine dining made the course feel personal instead of showy.
The Modern NYC Review: Precision from chef to server
The Modern is a restaurant of precision, from the chef in the kitchen to the server standing at the table. Before the meal even got going, I watched a staff member iron a tablecloth right on the table—I have the video to prove it. My server knew every dish inside and out. She could explain the ingredients, the technique and how each course fit into the menu, but it never sounded memorized. You could tell she took real pride in her job. That kind of knowledge changes the meal: it makes the service feel like part of the cooking rather than something happening around it.
This is exactly what I would expect from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. I have eaten my way through that family tree: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack and Eleven Madison Park, which Meyer opened under USHG before selling it in 2011. Each restaurant has its own personality, but the same hospitality DNA runs through them. The range is the point—from a burger eaten outside in Madison Square Park to a tasting menu overlooking MoMA’s sculpture garden. The Modern is the museum version of that idea: more polished, more formal and more ceremonial.
I even met Danny Meyer at the New York City Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash during Shake Shack’s early expansion years. I remembered it as the period when Shake Shack was first opening, but the records point most strongly to 2010: Shake Shack won the judges’ choice that year, while Bobby Flay won the people’s choice. The original Madison Square Park kiosk had opened in 2004, but in 2010 Shake Shack was just beginning to grow beyond its early New York footprint. That makes the memory feel even better now. I met Meyer when the little park burger stand was starting to become something much bigger, and the same idea was already there: take the food seriously, make people feel welcome and never confuse formality with hospitality.
It also drew a line for me between dining downtown and uptown. Downtown can be laid-back, relaxed and fun while still taking the food completely seriously. Uptown, depending on the room, everything can become serious—the food, the service, the tablecloth and even the way people speak. The Modern runs right along that edge. It has become a fine-dining temple, and it has the screen presence to match: this is where Carrie tells Charlotte and Miranda she is marrying Big in the first Sex and the City movie. The restaurant can feel almost reverential, but the flavor, the pride of the staff and flashes of humor keep it from becoming a museum piece. It is in a museum, after all.
Truffle Risotto and Tableside Theater
The most memorable service moment belonged to the black truffle risotto, offered as a $50 supplement in place of dry-aged duck with mango and peanuts. A wooden truffle box arrived complete with its own gauge and a small metal slicer. The lid opened like a jewelry case, revealing dark, knobbly truffles. It was pure restaurant theater, but it also made the ingredient feel tangible before it reached the plate.
That sense of play kept the meal from becoming stiff. My drink was the Kaleidoscopic: a Reposado Tequila Old-Fashioned with Cacao, Calvados and Chile. It arrived with a thin piece of chocolate painted like abstract art across the rim—an edible garnish that looked at home beside MoMA. It was amazing: the kind of cocktail that could hold its own beside the food. A smooth, egg-shaped vessel appeared at the table with no immediate explanation. The Modern clearly understands that anticipation is an ingredient too.
The Best Dishes at The Modern
As the meal progressed, the flavors deepened. Sea bass and squid arrived with the fish’s skin rendered into a crisp, burnished sheet, set in a savory broth edged with green oil. The menu then moved through dry-aged duck with mango and peanuts—or the truffle-risotto supplement—and crusted venison with morels and bacon. The plating stayed restrained, but the food became warmer, darker and more grounded.
Dessert brought the focus back to flavor. The rhubarb and champagne was bright, tart and exact, with enough acidity to wake everything up after the heavier savory courses. Dark chocolate followed with deeper, richer flavors and the same level of control. Both plates were beautiful, but they were not just there to be admired—the flavors earned the presentation.
About that spoon
Fine dining is full of objects that make you wonder whether you are holding them correctly. At the end of the meal, I looked down at one of the spoons and realized it resembled my landscaper’s shovel. After paying fine-dining money, the comparison was impossible to ignore.
It was ridiculous. It was also amazing.
That is probably the best summary of the night. The precision was undeniable and the flavors delivered, but the experience ran right along the edge of stuffy. Imagine putting a fine-dining restaurant inside a library: quiet, polished and so controlled that everyone instinctively lowers their voice. Then remember that The Modern is actually inside a museum. Oh wait—of course the food looks like art. What saves it from becoming too precious are the moments that break the formality: the truffle box, the sculptural cocktail and, yes, the shovel spoon.
The Modern NYC Review: Is It Worth It?
The Modern is not simply a parade of expensive ingredients. It is a carefully paced experience built on contrast—cool and warm, crisp and soft, elegant and playful. The room may sit beside a museum, but the food does not feel like something you are only meant to admire from a distance.
It invites attention, then rewards it. And by the time the final plate is cleared, the meal feels less like a checklist of courses than a collection of small, sharply composed memories.
Absolutely—I would go back. The Modern is what a Michelin-starred restaurant should be. Yes, it can feel a little uptight and stuffy, but this is fine dining inside one of New York City’s most famous and prestigious museums. A certain level of seriousness comes with the territory.
The food was precise, the service was impeccable, and every detail—from the cooking to the specialized flatware—felt intentional. The Modern should be a stop on any high-end foodie’s trip to New York City.
If the full tasting menu feels like too much, visit the Bar Room for a more relaxed introduction. And if you have already experienced the main dining room, return to the bar for Simon Kim’s fried chicken or the hot dog topped with caviar. Pair it with the tequila-and-mezcal Old-Fashioned, which was one of the best Old-Fashioneds I have ever had.
Whether it is for the full tasting menu or a more relaxed night at the bar, I will be back.
Videos From The Modern NYC
Frequently Asked Questions About The Modern NYC
Is The Modern NYC worth it?
The Modern is worth it for diners who appreciate precise cooking, polished service and a formal Michelin-starred experience. The price makes it a special-occasion restaurant, but the tasting menu, tableside presentations and sculpture-garden setting create an experience that goes beyond dinner. If you prefer something less formal, try the Bar Room.
How much does dinner at The Modern NYC cost?
During my visit, The Modern’s tasting menu cost $275 per person. The Discovery wine pairing was $195, the Reserve pairing was $350, and the black-truffle risotto supplement was $50. Menus and prices change, so confirm the current cost before booking.
What should you order at The Modern?
Eggs on Eggs on Eggs was the signature course and one of the clearest expressions of the restaurant’s style: luxurious, precise and playful. The black-truffle risotto was another standout, while the Kaleidoscopic tequila Old-Fashioned was one of the best cocktails of the evening.
Is The Modern restaurant inside MoMA?
The Modern is located at 9 West 53rd Street beside the Museum of Modern Art. Its main dining room overlooks MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, making the museum setting an important part of the experience.
The Modern NYC Prices, Reservations and Location
This The Modern NYC review covers the $275 tasting menu, two-Michelin-star cooking, Eggs on Eggs on Eggs, cocktails, service, the Bar Room and whether dining beside MoMA is worth the price.; the menu listed a $195 Discovery pairing and a $350 Reserve pairing.
Sources
The Modern’s Michelin Guide listing
“Eggs on Eggs on Eggs” ingredients
Chef Thomas Allan’s egg-and-soldiers inspiration
Danny Meyer and Union Square Hospitality Group
The Modern in Sex and the City
Shake Shack’s 2010 NYCWFF Burger Bash win
Eleven Madison Park’s Danny Meyer-era history
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