Sweet, Sweet Culture

ABF & I strolled through the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in Midtown NYC this weekend. We are saving the Tim Burton exhibit for a less crowded day, so we were happy to wander the halls and see the Van Goghs, Matisses, Picassos, etc. After a few hours, our stomachs got grumbly and we wandered over to the cafe. Oddly enough, there are no sandwiches on the menu! It's just soups, salads, appetizers, or desserts! Guess which one we picked. ;)

Pistachio Sundae. Sigh. THIS was outstanding. The salty/sweet pistachios had a wonderful crunch to them. We quickly ate up the ones on top, and were delighted to find many more strewn throughout the sundae. The pistachio ice cream was subtly and deliciously flavored, and smooth as silk, and the vanilla was super smooth as well. At the very bottom of the glass, we found a still slightly-crunchy vanilla biscuit (cookie ;).

The sundae cost 8 dollars, which, true, might be more than you might normally pay in a restaurant. However, every bite of this was decadent and sacrilicious, so if you figure it was 4 bucks per person, it suddenly seems like a perfectly reasonable splurge. (Ed: ABF's comment on this post prompted me to put in a side story I initially ommitted!) This sundae wasn't just delicious--it was also attention-getting. The couple sitting next to us had just taken their seats when we got our sundae. The girl, a bright, bubbly blonde gal, gasped in amazement and said to me, "Excuse me, what is that you're eating?" I answered and assured her that it was indeed as good as it looked. She went on rapturously to her date about how much she loves ice cream, how she could eat it no matter what the weather, she looooves pistachio, and oh my goodness, did she mention how much she loves ice cream? So what does her date say? "Eh, I'm more of a sorbet person." and instead orders the lame bowl of 4 tiny scoops of sorbet for them to SHARE.. Jerk. I think ABF and I both wanted to pull her aside and tell her she could do much, much better

We also had coffee--regular coffee for me, 3 bucks and quite strong, while ABF had a latte, which was quite pretty. I appreciate that they take the time to heat and foam the milk for even drip coffee! After we'd finished our coffee, our server came by and cheerily filled up both our cups (no extra charge!) A free refill policy anywhere is always a noteworthy event in NYC. The service was also attentive and welcoming--we didn't feel rushed at all.

We left feeling satisfied but not overly-stuffed, and we carried on for a few more hours in the museum after that.

Later, we joked about going back to MOMA just for that sundae. But I'm pretty sure neither one of us was joking.