Thomas Carter & Ignacio Mattos to Open Hippest Upper East Side Restaurant of All Time

Thomas Carter and Ignacio Mattos, the restaurateur and chef behind Estela and the forthcoming Cafe Altro Paradiso, are planning a restaurant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new space dedicated to 20th and 21st century art, Met Breuer. The new museum will inhabit the space previously occupied by the Whitney before its move downtown. Carter tells the Times that the Met team was looking for "something more convivial and rustic and fun" than a traditional museum restaurant.

Although Mattos and Carter haven't announced any menu items yet, it sounds like this one will be stylistically similar to Estela — the name of the new establishment might be Estela Breuer. The wine list will have around 500 bottles, compared to the 200 that are offered downtown. And the new dining room will have its own entrance and its own hours. The museum is slated to open in March, and the new restaurant will probably open a few months after that. In other Estela team news, Mattos and Carter's new Soho Italian restaurant should make its debut sometime in the next few weeks.