Estela Team Plans Met Breuer Restaurant And Café

Discerning diners visiting Museum Mile in Manhattan have always faced a conundrum: what to eat after seeing some of the greatest art in the world? A sad, overpriced bowl of pasta on one of the east-side avenues never seems fitting after touring an iconic cultural destination. Enter the team from downtown hit Estela. Ignacio Mattos and Thomas Carter have been working with the Met Breuer—the Met's new modern art space in what was once The Whitney—to open a restaurant.

Yesterday, the New York Times' Florence Fabricant dropped some new details about that project: It's a two-parter, Flora Coffee and Flora Bar, both of which will open next month. Flora Coffee will serve breakfast and "simple lunch fare," according to Fabricant, while the bar will be open for dinner to start with a seafood- and vegetable-centric menu. Lunch at the bar will follow later in the season. Carter describes the project as "a little surreal," before adding, "We're very nervous." Meanwhile, diners who enjoy museums should be excited, as should neighborhood residents, since both restaurants will be open to the public via a separate entrance.