Untitled, Danny Meyer's restaurant at the Whitney, opens in its new Renzo Piano-designed home on Gansevoort Street May 1, along with the museum itself. Today, press were allowed in to tour the museum, which allowed a glimpse not only of the art but also of the new dining spaces (besides Untitled, there's also the casual Studio Cafe on the top floor of the museum).
Untitled itself takes up a corner space on the ground floor, and like its next door neighbor Santina (also designed by Piano), is walled almost entirely behind glass. But where the interior of Santina is entirely a Torrisi team creation, the interior of Untitled was also designed by Piano, all the way down to the furniture. Most of that furniture isn't in place yet, but there are a few cushioned, mid-century modern style chairs and simple tables to give an idea of what it will look like. The open kitchen stretches along the back of the restaurant, fronted by a long bar (though there will be no seats directly in front of the kitchen. Once it opens, it will also have plenty of outdoor seating, in the plaza now populated only by heat lamps:
Gramercy Tavern's longtime chef, Michael Anthony, is also the chef here, and has pulled together a seasonal menu, heavy on the vegetables. It includes dishes like grilled leeks with citrus-pasilla sauce, green tomatoes with baby lettuces and caesar dressing, and red shrimp ravioli with nettles and mushrooms. Anthony plans to change it on a monthly basis, and tells Eater that it's a little more "wild" than the food at Gramercy Tavern, with more spice and bold flavors.
Upstairs, the Studio Cafe (above) serves drinks, plus a menu of snacks, salads, and toasts, also created by Anthony. It is also, most notably, equipped with a huge outdoor patio with killer views:
This alone makes it almost worth the price of museum admission (unlike Untitled, it's open to museum visitors only). Plus the museum will be open until 10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, which means that it will occasionally be possible to take in a sunset over your avocado toast.
While Anthony says he'll be very involved at Untitled for the immediate future, the restaurant's chef de cuisine is Suzanne Cupps, herself a veteran of Gramercy Tavern, and she'll be overseeing both kitchens at the Whitney on a daily basis. Check out the menus for both Untitled and the Studio Cafe, below: