Hasta La Ideas

(Photo: Philip Greenberg)

Have you been holding off on visiting the Guggenheim’s swell Kandinsky exhibition for fear of becoming famished mid-climb, before reaching the artist’s geometric period? Fear not, ravenous fans of abstraction, because now the museum can feed your hunger for great art and modern American cuisine. Today is opening day at The Wright, the intimate new restaurant located on the museum’s ground floor and lined in a site-specific sculptural installation by British artist Liam Gillick.

Designed by Andre Kikoski Architect, the 1,600-square-foot space was inspired by Wright’s original museum design. “We sought to create a work that is both contemporary and complementary,” says Kikoski, who riffed on the Guggenheim’s iconic architecture with design features including a curvilinear wall layered with illuminated fiber-optics, a bar topped in seamless white Corian, an undulating banquette, and a layered ceiling canopy of taut white membrane (yum!).

As for the menu, it’s modern American fare through the eyes of chef Rodolfo Contreras, with signature dishes such as seared diver scallops, gently cooked shrimp, and crab meat with sea urchin sauce; slow-roasted suckling pig, quince, and violet mustard (isn’t that the title of another Gilick work?) in apple bacon jus. Vegetarians can opt for The Wright Salad, which features green market vegetables and gently cooked egg truffle. Meanwhile, those Guggenheim visitors that insist on starting at the top will want to begin with dessert: spiced pumpkin and chocolate cake with a scoop of pumpkin seed oil ice cream.

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