Café 2

The Modern’s designers, Bentel & Bentel, are responsible for MoMA’s great surprise, Café 2: Meyer’s reimagining of a Roman trattoria. While the Modern’s entrance is on 53rd Street, you reach the informal Café 2 by going to the second floor of the museum (you’ll need a membership card or day pass). The set up is smart: a wall-sized menu allows people waiting in line to make decisions in advance. Beyond the block-long counter of antipasti and panini, cured meats have their own station, starring a venerable Ferrari-red meat cutter. Each order has a number; post it on a stand at your table, then wait as servers in long patterned aprons deliver.