Empire Building

Danny Meyer Takes Over Whitney Museum’s Café

So abundant are the feathers in Danny Meyer’s cap that Union Square Hospitality is taking over the Whitney Museum’s café (previously a Sarabeth’s) and all it gets is a little squib buried in “Off the Menu!” At this point, the guy could announce plans to open a place in the crown of the Statue of Liberty and we’d just yawn. Anyway, Flo Fab says the Meyerization happens in two weeks: “A temporary café menu will be in place until the fall, when renovations on the room and its kitchen will be complete.”

Off the Menu [NYT]

Update: See below for the full press release.

THE WHITNEY SELECTS DANNY MEYER’S UNION SQUARE HOSPITALITY GROUP TO SERVE AS EXCLUSIVE CATERER AND CREATE NEW CAFE



NEW YORK, January 6, 2010 - The Whitney Museum of American Art has selected Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) as the exclusive caterer for all Museum events, and to create and operate a new cafe at the Museum, slated to open in the fall of 2010.



USHG’s catering and events business, Hudson Yards, will become the exclusive caterer for all Whitney events and will also operate an interim “pop-up” cafe to serve Whitney visitors during the period that the dining space on the lower level of the Museum is being renovated. Hudson Yards has earned acclaim as an innovative culinary leader for its role in the menu creation and day-to-day operations of all USHG businesses at The New York Mets’ Citi Field, and also for Public Fare, its open-air cafe at the Public Theater at The Delacorte in Central Park.



The new cafe will succeed Sarabeth’s at the Whitney. Sarabeth’s, with several New York City locations, bakeries, and a nationally distributed line of award-winning preserves, will close its Whitney outpost on January 17, 2010. “We are deeply grateful to Sarabeth’s for feeding so many hungry art lovers and providing many years of outstanding service to the Whitney and its patrons,” said Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director.



“We were honored to have been selected in 1991 by the Whitney to be the first private restaurant operating in a New York City museum,” said Sarabeth’s co-founder, Sarabeth Levine. “Over the years, Sarabeth’s at the Whitney hosted millions of visitors and its outstanding food and service made it a destination in itself. As we are not equipped to provide large-scale catering, we fully understand and support the Whitney’s decision. We wish them the best of luck in this new endeavor.”



“We are thrilled to be partnering with Danny Meyer, one of the most respected restaurateurs in the world,” Mr. Weinberg remarked. “His Union Square Hospitality Group excels at both individual dining and event catering—both of critical importance to the Museum. The pairing of Union Square Hospitality Group and the Whitney will be a perfect fit for local residents and tourists alike. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Danny and his talented team.”



“As art lovers we are incredibly excited to partner with the Whitney to help establish the museum as a premier venue for catered events. And we consider it an enormous privilege to conceive the next generation cafe to serve the Whitney’s museum goers as well as their Upper East Side neighbors,” said Danny Meyer, CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group. “We’re eager to contribute one more reason for people to visit this institution of American art.”
Danny Meyer Takes Over Whitney Museum’s Café