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Just when you thought the newly expanded New Museum couldn't squeeze in anything else, it went ahead and added a restaurant worth visiting, even if you never set foot in a gallery.
Oberon officially opened on Tuesday, July 7, inside the museum's ground floor at 235 Bowery, giving the Lower East Side a new destination that blends contemporary art, thoughtful design and seasonal cooking under one roof. (It's also the first Manhattan full-service restaurant from Henry Rich's Oberon Group, the team behind Brooklyn favorites Rhodora, June and Rucola.)
The restaurant bills itself as a "neighborhood restaurant for the art world," but don't let that intimidate you. The idea is refreshingly democratic: artists, curators, collectors, downtown regulars, museum-goers and anyone looking for a good dinner are all equally welcome. During museum hours, Oberon is an all-day dining option for visitors and the neighborhood. But at night, it shifts into a standalone restaurant and cocktail destination with its own entrance through Freeman Alley.
Like the museum itself, Oberon is as much about design as it is about what lands on the plate. It was created by OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu, the architect behind the museum’s new expansion, and reflects a shared commitment to sustainability through natural materials and a zero-waste philosophy. The interiors also serve as a gallery of sorts, featuring an interactive video installation by artist Ian Cheng, furniture by designer Minjae Kim and parting chocolates created in collaboration with acclaimed artist Laurie Anderson.
(The architecture comes with a fun bit of trivia, too: Oberon is among the only restaurants in the world housed within a single building designed by two Pritzker Prize-winning architects, thanks to the pairing of the museum's original SANAA-designed tower with OMA's new expansion.)
In the kitchen, executive chef Julia Sherman, the author of Salad for President, and co-executive chef Ali Ghriskey are leaning into ingredient-driven, vegetable-forward cooking built around the seasons and Hudson Valley producers. Early menu highlights include a melon salad with sage and feta, a signature Oberon burger, seasonal spritzes and cocktails and a chicken entrée rubbed with dehydrated fig leaf.
In a city where "third places" are increasingly hard to come by, Oberon is making a compelling case that one of New York's newest restaurants might also become one of its most interesting places to linger. Whether you're there for contemporary art, a burger or both, that's probably the point.