You no longer need to be a member to dine at the fourth-floor Met Dining room. You do need a reservation. The views are spectacular.

We returned for lunch recently before seeing the extensive Manet/Degas exhibit that’s on through January 7, 2024. When you enter the Met, you sign in to their virtual exhibition queue for the exhibit, which closes when capacity is reached. We did so before heading to lunch.

We each sipped a glass of their crisp Chablis ($20) while we shared a few dishes. First was their house-smoked brook trout ($23) with corn blini, green onion, sour cream and topped with trout roe. I’d recommend.

Also good is the vegan chitarra (a thick spaghetti) with fresh tomato sauce, fried eggplant and garlic with some lemons zest ($26, starter; $36 entree) and their vegetarian pasta, the ribbon-shaped Malfade pasta ($25, starter; $35 entree) with a summer bean ragout, stracciatella and lemon zest.

We then went off to see the extensive exhibition of 160 oil paintings, prints, pastels and drawings from the two impressionists,  who were Paris natives born into wealthy families. Be sure to give yourself enough time to see and enjoy the show.

I highly recommend a visit to the Met with lunch in the dining room!

The Dining Room at The Met
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
212-570-3975
metmuseum.org/