Both Created by the Team Behind Downtown Restaurants Estela and Café Altro Paradiso
Flora Bar, the new restaurant at The Met Breuer from restaurateur Thomas Carter and chef Ignacio Mattos—the team behind Manhattan restaurants Estela and Café Altro Paradiso—is now open. Bringing the downtown culture of those projects to architect Marcel Breuer’s iconic Upper East Side building, the lively and approachable newly designed space is ideal for both a sit-down dinner or a cocktail and a casual meal. Set on the lower level of The Met Breuer, and with a seating capacity of 74, Flora Bar operates as a full-service restaurant Tuesdays through Sundays (Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30–10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5:30–11 pm; and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5:30–10 p.m.). Guests can access the restaurant through the Museum both during and after its public hours; there is also a dedicated entrance on 75th Street.
“We are proud to introduce Thomas and Ignacio’s contemporary culinary magic to The Met Breuer and New York City’s Upper East Side, for our visitors and the public to enjoy,” stated Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Their singular style will provide the perfect complement to The Met Breuer’s unique architectural setting and its innovative program around modern and contemporary art.”
With Flora Bar, Mattos brings uptown the inventive culinary identity he cultivated at Estela. The menu has an emphasis on seafood and draws from local and European influences. The robust beverage program showcases celebrated winemakers, as well as hyperlocal Old and New World finds. It also reflects the team’s continuing effort to select wines made by artisans, craftspeople, and farmers.
While the design of Flora Bar takes cues from Estela and Café Altro Paradiso, the team worked with architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners to design a space that honors the iconic modernist setting. Other key features include an expansive marble bar and custom stools designed by Steven Bukowski.
Adjacent to Flora Bar is Flora Coffee, where coffee, pastries, and takeaway sandwiches are available to Museum and neighborhood guests during daytime hours when the Museum is open: Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Featured coffees are from Parlor Coffee, an emerging coffee roasting company in Brooklyn, New York. Flora Coffee has counter service and additional seating.
About Matter House
In 2013, Thomas Carter and Ignacio Mattos opened Estela on Houston Street in the space that once housed the Knitting Factory music venue. With a deep wine list and a bar serving cocktails into the late evening, Estela is a place that takes inspiration from the busy, dependable restaurants that Carter and Mattos love to visit around the world but that is also firmly rooted in downtown New York City. In early 2016, they opened their second restaurant on Spring Street in SoHo, the Italian restaurant Café Altro Paradiso. Since its opening, Estela has been named one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, in addition to receiving a wide range of best-of designations in local and national publications. Mattos was also nominated for a James Beard Best Chef: New York award in 2014.
Ignacio Mattos is the chef and co-owner of Estela, Café Altro Paradiso, Flora Bar, and Flora Coffee. Born in Uruguay, he began his career in the kitchens of Francis Mallmann, Judy Rodgers, and Alice Waters. He moved to New York City in 2006 to become chef of the NoHo institution Il Buco. His adventurous cooking has earned the establishment a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant in America. In 2012, he met his collaborator and partner, Thomas Carter, and together they formed the company Matter House. At Estela and Café Altro Paradiso, Mattos tries to cook food that is comforting and bold, reflecting his varied experiences and the cultures of the city he calls home. As New York Times critic Pete Wells put it, his “dishes are original and, in their way, simple, and it’s that combination that makes you want to give in to them.”
Thomas Carter is a restaurateur and the co-owner behind Estela, Café Altro Paradiso, Flora Bar, and Flora Coffee. On a trip to France’s Luberon after graduating from art school, he had a simple, yet revelatory, meal of regional lamb, fresh favas, and the Rhône red. Soon after, he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America and completed a viticulture exchange program with University of California, Davis.
He later cooked at New York restaurants including Union Pacific, Mercer Kitchen, and Le Bernardin before shifting into wine, where he worked as Wine Director at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for six years. Carter focuses on producers that best express particular regions. These wines reflect the texture of a place and time, much like the Châteauneuf-du-Pape that first sparked his transition into the culinary world.
How to Make Reservations at Flora Bar
Reservations may be made online at florabarnyc.com and by calling 646–558–5383. Walk-ins are welcome.
Flora Bar and Flora Coffee Online and on Social Media
Online, Flora Bar and Flora Coffee can be found at florabarnyc.com; on The Met website at metmuseum.org/breuer; and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using @florabarnyc, #floracoffee, and #MetBreuer.
About The Met Breuer
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary art program has expanded to include a new series of exhibitions, performances, artist commissions, residencies, and educational initiatives in the building designed by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue and 75th Street. Open to the public since March 18, 2016, The Met Breuer provides additional space to explore the art of the 20th and 21st centuries through the global breadth and historical reach of The Met’s unparalleled collection.
New exhibitions at The Met Breuer this fall include: Humor and Fantasy—The Berggruen Paul Klee Collection (through January 2, 2017); and Kerry James Marshall: Mastry and Kerry James Marshall Selects (through January 29, 2017).
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Contact:
Elyse Topalian or Alexandra Kozlakowski with press inquiries about the Museum
communications@metmuseum.org; 212–570–3951
Sue Chan or Nikki Spilka of c/o CHAN with press inquiries about Flora Bar and Flora Coffee
matterhouse@careofchan.com
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Updated December 2, 2016
Photo by Glen Allsop
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