Art and Food in NYC

By Valerie Kolligian Thayer • April 11, 2019 • Dining & Reviews, Dining Adventures, Lifestyle, Outside the Kitchen, Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Scouting Missions, Travel

For the past many Februaries in recent memory, my husband and I have spent a weekend in New York City. He has an annual meeting he attends that coincides with either Valentine’s Day or my birthday which are just days apart. A little work and a lot of play have resulted in many fun outings over the years. I’ve written about some of those past weekends here, here, here, here and here! Lots of great places and spaces within those posts.

This past February was no different and I am finally sitting down to write about it. Just in time in fact because on the agenda were two exhibits which are closing in the near future. If you have a trip to the city planned, maybe you can check them out!

My first stop was the Guggenheim to see Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, an exhibition which closes on April 23 so do hurry as the large pieces you will see below are worth the price of admission. Born in Stockholm in 1862, af Klint began her abstract career in 1906, but rarely exhibited her work and in fact, she stipulated that none of it could be seen until at least 20 years after her death. This survey of af Klint’s work is the first major solo exhibition in the United States devoted to the artist whose work was largely influenced by spiritualism and theosophy. I loved her use of color, especially in her ten largest pieces that were so engaging…

and to give you a better sense of their height, shots from above…

And a pic of the Guggenheim just for fun. Ironically, af Klint imagined this body of work displayed “in a nearly circular, four-story building that would be connected by a central spiral staircase. She imagined that this structure would be imbued with a certain power and calm.” Did she have a vision of the Guggenheim that was built after her passing?

Next up and because we arranged to have dinner relatively nearby, we took in the Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Photographs were not allowed, except at the end of the collection that is the largest devoted to Kahlo in the U.S. in the past ten years. It’s the first time personal possessions, including much of her clothing has been on display. “The objects shed new light on how Kahlo crafted her appearance and shaped her personal and public identity to reflect her cultural heritage and political beliefs, while also addressing and incorporating her physical disabilities.” We really enjoyed the exhibit and learned more about this fiercely independent and driven woman…

Our next stop was for dinner at Misi, a restaurant that opened in South Williamsburg last Fall with lots of buzz. I think we were lucky to grab two seats at what is called the “kitchen counter” at 7 p.m. because the place was hopping and it looked like it wasn’t going to die down for a long while.

I couldn’t envision what the counter looked like so I was a bit worried that it would be uncomfortable. Thankfully, it was really fun to have an up close view of all the action going on in the kitchen. We were completely entertained watching the chefs prepare all the dishes, each one looking better than the last.

Missy Robbins is the head chef and owner of Misi, her second restaurant. Her first solo venture is Lilia, also in Brooklyn where I have not been but will hopefully get there another time. Misi is a love letter to pasta, made in house in a dedicated pasta room I got a glimpse of as we were leaving.

The menu is antipasti and pasta. If you are looking for something else, go somewhere else. We could have ordered almost anything on the menu and probably been completely happy. Isn’t that the best when you are struggling to narrow it down because almost everything looks appealing? Here are some of the antipasti we didn’t choose: Charred marinated peppers, whipped ricotta crostini; Broccoli di ciccio, garlic vinaigrette, chilies; Braised butter beans, Tuscan kale, bacon, parmigiano.

I am still dreaming about this gorgeous salad we did order. The simplest of high quality ingredients combine to make a hearty and soul satisfying salad of Raw Fennel and Celery, Parmigiano and Walnuts ($14), dressed very simply with olive oil and some lemon, salt and pepper. If you love fennel and celery as much as I do, this is a salad for you and I have made it at home a few times. Never quite the same, but still worth a try…

We also ordered the Grilled Baby Artichokes ($16) that were served with a mint salsa verde. We are artichoke lovers and this dish was completely satisfying…

And then the pasta! Ten pasta dishes were on offer, all different shapes, sauces and sources of proteins were included. Several vegetarian options were included as well. Here are some of the dishes we passed up: Chickpea pappardelle, chickpeas, rosemary, garlic, parmigiano; Spaghetti, fennel pesto, Sicilian almonds; Strangozzi, pork sugo, nutmeg, parmigiano, Malloreddus, clams, sea beans, saffron.

And here were our selections. My husband’s was a Fettucine with buffalo butter, parmigiano extra vecchio, black pepper ($24). Essentially a cacio e pepe, and oh was it amazing. Need to run a few laps to work that one off however. Portions are generous…

My choice was Spinach and Mascarpone filled Tortelli with brown butter and ricotta salata ($25). The pasta was ethereal, so beautifully made and wrapped around a delicious filling. Enhanced by the brown butter with a little bite from the dry cheese, this dish was memorable…

pasta room…

I would highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area.

The last 2 things I wanted to share from our time in New York was on our last night, we were tired of eating so we decided to skip dinner and catch a show. We were debating between To Kill a Mockingbird and a few other shows, but settled on seeing The Ferryman that had good reviews. Set in Northern Ireland in the early 1980’s, it shares the devastating effects of conflicts there on a multi-generational family. The play was long, but we were happy to see Laura Donnelly was starring in the show, an actress we are familiar with from watching Outlander (Jenny Frasier). She originated the role in London and the show was written by her partner, Jez Butterworth based on a story about Laura’s uncle who mysteriously disappeared and was later found buried in a bog during this turbulent time in Northern Ireland’s history…

And finally, if you get the New York Times Food Section emails, then you know that sometimes Sam Sifton shares some personal tips. He happened to mention back in February a taco place that he loves, but loathes the lines. There are two locations and one of them happened to be right near our hotel. It was right near closing when we decided we just had to have a taco, and they must have seen the look of disappointment in my eyes when they initially said we couldn’t come in and took mercy on us, ha ha. They were out of their adobada (pork), but we ordered a pollo and an asada that were served in the most tender corn tortilla and was topped with some guac and our choice, a spicy salsa. You have to go to Los Tacos No. 1 and get a taco! Thank you, Sam Sifton for the rec!