Museum Mile
May 16th, 2007 by Jasmine
The city has been buzzing about the new Greek and Roman Galleries that just opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so when an art aficionado friend of mine came into town last weekend I considered it a “must-do” while she was here. Saturday morning we excitedly met up on the vast front staircase leading up to the Metropolitan Museum. Before we walked in, my friend informed me that the stairs leading up to museums symbolize the aspirations we all should have to the artists inside.
The new Greek and Roman Galleries are impressive, to say the least. Set up like a Greek mansion, they are decorated with fountains surrounded by benches, strategically placed marble and bronze statues, and floors with tile mosaics that were recovered from sites in Greece. I took advantage of all three as I sat on the bench, listened to the water fountain in a beam of sunlight from skylights above, and I marveled at the marbles. It was the perfect way to spend the morning.
After the visual stimulation, I needed to fulfill another sense: taste. When visiting Museum Mile, Café Sabarsky is a must for lunching. Located in the Neue Gallery a few blocks from the Met, the café and gallery are housed in an old Upper East Side mansion built in 1914 and lived in at one time by society doyenne Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III. Overlooking Central Park, Café Sabarsky is located in one of the old drawing rooms at the corner of the mansion. For my elegant afternoon tea, I perused the extensive tea list and chose a soothing lavender chamomile tea. If you’re feeling more peckish than tea can satisfy, Café Sabarsky serves delicious authentic Viennese food including strudel and Linzertorte created by Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner. Make sure, however, after your strudel you leave room for dessert because Café Sabarsky’s dessert, including a delectible chocolate mousse cake, has to be some of the best I have ever had.
After our brief stopover at the Neue Gallery, we returned to the Met to take in the Tiffany Glass exhibit, featuring items that were once in Tiffany’s mansion, Laurelton Hall, in Oyster Bay, New York, before it burned down. The stained glass windows, jewerly, lamps, costumes, and tables were were extremely intracate and detailed – all with specially designed glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself. Despite the mansion’s overblown, nouveau riche-y style (on display in pictures throughout the exhibit), each individual piece was unique and beautiful enough to stand as a centerpiece on its own.
Like most art newbies, I could spend months at the Met and never see everything. Each time I visit I find a new wing of the building that I never knew existed – and that doesn’t even cover all the hidden treasures in the gift shop. Though we didn’t make any purchases that day, I learned that museum members receive a 10% discount (and free admission to the museum any time). With centuries and worlds on display inside, I’m beginning to think that membership will have its rewards.
May 16th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Nice job on the article! it makes me want to go there myself!