Grand Life Hotels » Art + Design

The Neue Galerie

Ted Gushue — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:21:37 +0000

Housed in a glorious Beaux-Arts mansion designed by Annabelle Selldorf on 5th Avenue, the Neue Galerie is home to some of the most important works of the early 20th century German and Austrian works of art – perhaps most famously the Portrait of Adele Blockbauer by Gustav Klimt. The Galerie is also home to a lovely little cafe, named after one of the museum’s most grand patrons: Serge Sabarsky.

Blu Dot

Ted Gushue — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:34:04 +0000

Born in 1997, the team behind design studio Blu Dot aim to bring good, and affordable, furniture to as many people as possible. This raison d’etre came about after finishing college and trying to furnish their first homes. With Ikea not being everyone’s first port of call in the choice department, Blu Dot has changed the face of affordable design for young people living in the U.S. The sleek, modern designs are both innovative and approachable, making them perfect and desirable staples for the home. Even if you are only in town on vacation, the world of Blu Dot begs to be admired, especially now with a new SoHo flagship. They also hold a large concession at ABC Carpet & Home.

The Cloisters

Ted Gushue — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:19:03 +0000

The Cloisters, and the surrounding Fort Tyron Park lie at the very northernmost point of the island of Manhattan. Originally a heroic undertaking financed by an endowment from John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Cloisters aimed to bring slices of Medieval Europe to New York City, which proved to be an impressive feat: between 1934 and 1938 five French cloistered abbeys, specifically Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville were taken apart meticulously, marked for reassembly, and then shipped brick by brick to Fort Tyron Park where they were to be reassembled to hold an impressive collection of some five-thousand pieces of Medieval art curated by George Grey Barnard, purchased by the Rockefellers, and donated to the museum.

The generosity of the Rockefeller family knew no bounds, as evidenced by a swift purchase of miles and miles of acreage directly across the Hudson, deeding them to the state of New Jersey and ensuring that no development could ever take place – forever preserving the view from across the river.

The Wright at the Guggenheim Museum

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:29:47 +0000

The spiral-shaped Guggenheim building could host no ordinary restaurant, and the Wright rises to the design occasion: the sleek, curved, futurist space created by Andre Kikoski won a James Beard Award for Best Restuarant Design in 2010. The menu from Bouley alum Rodolfo Contreras is a simple seasonal American lineup. Should you pop in for lunch (the restaurant does not serve dinner) you might dine on seared scallops with peaches and arugula, organic chicken schnitzel, or risotto with zucchini, mascarpone, and macadamia nuts.

Untitled at the Whitney Museum of Art

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:24:34 +0000

Danny Meyer conquers another museum’s restaurant, this one the high-ceilinged, rather charmless cafeteria inside the Whitney. Nevermind that — the updated coffee-shop grub makes sense for the space, and utilizes all that’s vogueish in this locavore era: greenmarket produce, seasonality, and namebrand Brooklyn producers. There’s a killer Reuben, perfect egg creams, and every iteration of burger and grilled cheese you could want. Though largely a breakfast and lunch destination, dinner is served Thursdays through Saturdays.

Serai at Rubin Museum of Art

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:19:53 +0000

Normally, tasting Tibetan momos requires a trip to far-out Queens. But the posticker-like dumplings are served here (with chicken or edamame filling) to complement the Rubin’s Himalayan art collection. Other fare leans Thai (paneer curry, chicken korma), or Indian, including samosas and the wraps known as Frankies, similar to an Indian taco.

The Morgan Dining Room at the Morgan Library & Museum

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:06:27 +0000

Another throwback museum restaurant, this one is housed with gilded age opulence in the Morgan family’s actual century-old dining room. It’s lunch-only (except on Friday nights until 8pm at the more casual Morgan Cafe), but what a way to lunch: amid white columns, a marble fireplace, and silver place settings. The small lunch menus offers mostly classics a la lobster salad, chicken Paillard, roasted salmon. The Pierpont Salad is a house-signature riff on the Cobb, made with grilled chicken, bacon, Vermont Cheddar, tomatoes, haricot verts, a honey-Dijon dressing.

The Modern at the Museum of Modern Art

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:01:30 +0000

Take your pick of Danny Meyer (Union Square Cafe) dining experiences here — up front is the more casual Bar Room, ideal for drinks and bites, while the dining is suitable for a special sit-down meal. Either way, enjoy chef Gabriel Kreuther’s seasonal, creative cooking. Yuzu-marinated langoustines; grilled foie gras with pistachio praline; and baked quail with macaroni, spinach, and morels are among the inventive selections on the blowout, $155 tasting menu (dining room only), while Alsatian tarte flambee flatbread and horseradish-crusted salmon headline the Bar Room’s slightly more rustic fare. Cocktails aren’t ignored either: The house martini features Tanqueray infused with cilantro.

Cafe Sabarsky at Neue Galerie

Ted Gushue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:57:21 +0000

This small, elegant museum is devoted to 20th century German and Austrian art (think Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix), and it’s fittingly housed in a gorgeous restored 1914 mansion. The dining room at Sabarsky channels Vienna’s cafes in their early-20th-century artistic and intellectual heyday by means of antique furnishings and fabrics. Food from chef Kurt Gutenbruner (Wallse, Blaue Gans) hews simple and good: chocolate-infused coffee, spatzle, sausage, and pretzels are among the appropriately classic offerings.

Morrison Hotel Gallery

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:41:18 +0000

This SoHo gallery, named after the B side of The Doors’ fifth album, showcases some of the most iconic rock photography ever captured. You’ll find pieces by now legendary photogs like Terry O’Neill, Mick Rock, Henry Diltz, & Robert Altman, who snapped intimate moments shared by everyone from The Beatles to Bowie.

The gallery’s current exhibition, “Portrait of an Artist,” celebrates legendary singer Tony Bennett. Featuring special moments captured during the making of the artist’s album Duets II, the gallery celebrated Bennett with a special dinner in their gallery’s Loft followed by a fête at the Soho Grand’s very own Club Room.