This past week, my dear friend Stephanie O'Neill, a gorgeous Mixologist who I've written about in these pages before and who I hadn't seen in a while called me and asked if I would be around in Hoboken because she was planning on being there and she thought that maybe we could have lunch. I was going to be there, but I had a meeting at my gallery during the time when she was available, and so she suggested that instead we could meet the next day for lunch in Manhattan at The Modern, the wonderful restaurant that is at the Museum of Modern Art, which is fondly known as MoMA.
My Mother's favorite museum was MoMA, and though she went to all of the museums and loved all of them, that one is the one that whenever I go I always think of her and feel as if she's with me. A few months ago I was there with a friend and it was so beautiful, but on that day we had lunch somewhere else. I hadn't been to the restaurant in years, and not since it was completely made over into the new version that it is now. The way it has been done is truly lovely, keeping the history while updating to the times we are in now.
In the past I have had evenings in the garden, listing to chamber music performances in the summer. My Mother and I also sat in the garden sometimes when we visited, and the restaurant looks out onto it which is a beautiful and nostalgic view. On this visit with my friend, she suggested that we sit at the bar, and when I arrived there was a wonderful seat on the banquets just behind it. I chose that and it felt so luxurious to sit there on that wonderful furniture, the designs of which I've known all my life because of my Mother and her taste for mixing modern furnishings into our antique historic home. That way of designing space is something I've inherited and made my own in so many ways, mixing in the new and the old, adding art and design from different times together to make a space that has history along with a very present day life.
The food was really wonderful, and I could have had everything on the menu. We did order quite a few things, something this beautiful friend always does with me. The treat of this afternoon reminded me of a scripture, "You lay a banquet before me," from Psalm 23. I felt so taken care of by the wonderful staff and welcomed and loved and feted by my beautiful friend. I know that the staff would treat everyone with care, but I also know that because of who Stephanie is, and the kind of person she is, we were treated like gold. Everything that happened on that beautiful afternoon brought such joy and peace, and I am so grateful in every way for the opportunity that was given to me to visit this old and lovely place that has lived in my memory and now has been made completely new.
No comments:
Post a Comment