Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Museum SHOPping #1 & Travel to Vienna for the Price of a Meal

Dali's Priceless Ruby Lips Pin can yours for a bargan at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, red Austrian crystals and faux pearls. Salvador Dali designed these sensational lips in 1949 using Mae West as his inspiration.  REPRODUCTION $110.00      http://shop.lacma.org/

HOLIDAY SHOPPING? Some of the most interesting and unique gifts anyone could ever desire to receive can be ordered online from Museum Gift Shops, like those "Dali Lips" above, more to come in installment #1, after "FOOD" and in Museum Shopping installment #2, next edition.

FOOD


A flight and room for seven days to Vienna Austria is roughly $2500 and that doesn't pay for a single meal. Here I reverse that plan and suggest you have a wonderful Viennese experience for only the price of a single meal. (When you are in NYC.) One of the great current experiences of Manhattan is having coffee and pastry or a complete meal at CAFE SABARSKY inside the NEUE GALERIE Museum for German and Austrian Art at 1048 Fifth Ave. and 86th St. (neue is pronounced noy' ya, like joy ya)  

The marble pastry buffet.
There is usually a line in the lobby for dining, so once seated, don't think food, until you have decided on a beverage. To begin with the menu items are all written in German, with an English description and this is not typical USA coffee service. The KAFFEESPEZIALITATEN (coffee specialties) consist of nine hot and one cold offering. A simple Kaffee with milk will transport you back in time to La Belle Epoch. It is served to you on a small silver tray, presenting a classic, white cup and saucer, with a carefully placed demi-spoon, a beautifully shaped small water glass and a miniature white milk pitcher. The swirling glass sugar dispenser is already on the table. If not coffee, you could order a dark Viennese hot chocolate with whipped cream, or aromatic, mulled red wine, or one of ten hot teas. There is an excellent German/Austrian wine and beer list to select from and finally there are seventeen additional and mostly exotic cold drinks, like Almdudler Limonade, a herbal concoction. 

Before you decide on a main course, select a Viennese pastry. These are the real thing and you will think you have been transported to the European continent. Every sweet is a hand-made winner, like the Rehrucken mit Schlag or chocolate marzipan cake with orange confiture and whipped cream. 

Staff in long aprons
Many people stop with coffee and pastry, but seriously, just caffein and carbs? Skip your next meal and keep ordering. There are salads, sandwiches, goulashes, chestnut or squash soup, schnitzel, and the classic Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut. Reading the menu out loud, "Hausgemachter Leberwurststaufstrich mit Zwiebel-Konfit" is a pleasure all on its own for English speakers. 

Cafe Sabarsky, like every aspect of Neue Galerie, is first class and authentic. The restaurant has German language newspapers, marble topped cafe sized tables, custom made light fixtures and Thonet steam-bent beachwood chairs. The details are inspired by early twentieth century Viennese coffee houses and Cafe Sabarsky looks as if Josef Hoffman, himself, created it. The experience is sublime and the wait staff wear the classic, European, long white apron over black clothing.  The same menu is also available in the basement restaurant, Cafe Fledermaus, which is more informal. It is a privilege just to sit on the chairs in either restaurant, in most museums, this quality of furniture is roped off. 

Cafe hours are 9-9 Thurs. through Sun. and 9-6 Mon. and Wed. Breakfast is available from 9 'til 11 on those days. Closed Tuesdays. For dinner reservations, 6-8 pm, call 212-288-0665. If you are shopping in Soho, check out an offspring, Cafe Kristall serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at 70 Mercer Street, between Spring and Broome.

MUSEUM SHOPping GIFT GUIDE #1 
continued from above.


PRECOLUMBIAN TOLIMA FIGURE PENDANT
NON-MEMBER PRICE:$85.00    






Lichtenstein Tie Item #123839    Imbued with the lively palette and witty imagery of the famous icon of pop art, Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997), our silk tie is adapted from his painting, Brushstroke with Spatter. $54   www.artinstituteshop.org

de Vera Pendant Necklace  Limited and numbered edition of 10   $9,800.00 











www.momastore.org/    Red Swiss Rialway Clock    item# 78380    $195

Monkey Felt Toy $78.00   Mavis is hand made from wool felt and embroidery by artisans in India.  Approximately 10 inches tall when sitting. Made under Fair Trade standards. For 3 + years  SKU #13338   http://shop.lacma.org/


www.artinstituteshop.org  Gerhard Richter   Woman Descending the Staircase    28 1/4” x 43 1/2”, laminated with black wood frame. $350  Item #123443
MORE MUSEUM SHOPPING IN THE NEXT EDITION
Until Later, 
Jack



© ARTS&FOOD,(ARTSnFOOD.blogspot.com) All rights reserved, © Copyright Jack A. Atkinson  2010 Under All International, Digital, Intellectual Property and Copyright Laws. Images © Copyright individual Creators, Lenders or Fabricators.

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