Cooper Hewitt Announces New Cafe and Retail Space in Reopened Museum

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Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Dec 20, 2014, 07:12 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum announces that Tarallucci e Vino will run the museum's new cafe, and has launched SHOP Cooper Hewitt, a tailor-made retail space designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in conjunction with the museum's grand reopening to the public Dec. 12.

Tarallucci e Vino at Cooper Hewitt features a contemporary layout and expanded seating inside and outside in the adjoining Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden. Free garden access is a central component of the transformed Cooper Hewitt, and the garden, cafe, and SHOP are all accessible without an admissions ticket, creating a new visitor loop. The cafe and garden are open daily from 7:30 a.m. Visitors will enter through the new E 90th street entrance, marked by a modern canopy designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

"Tarallucci e Vino at Cooper Hewitt is a celebration of both food and design, and I am thrilled to be offering our visitors and our neighbors the delicious cuisine that Tarallucci e Vino is known for," said Caroline Baumann, Director of Cooper Hewitt. "I hope that our community sees the cafe and garden as an extension of Central Park, and joins us for great design and delicious food."

The menu will offer Tarallucci's popular pastries, espresso, salads, soups, and panini sandwiches, with an emphasis on locally sourced produce, and a large selection of wines by the glass. The greenmarket-inspired menu will be served on Alessi cafe accessories, further complementing the dining experience.

Located adjacent to the cafe is the new SHOP Cooper Hewitt. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with the museum, the SHOP offers significant design objects from around the world, with a focus on American designers.

The new SHOP is the first tailor-made retail space built within the mansion. Unique items on sale in the SHOP will include a limited glow-in-the-dark edition of Making Design, the Irma Boom-designed tome of the museum's collection; the launch of a suite of exclusive products by Boym Partners, incorporating an emoticon of the mansion on mugs, journals, custom playing cards, and T-shirts; and a special series of plates, mugs, and trays in collaboration with notNeutral inspired by the museum's extensive textile collection, the first of many planned collection-inspired lines of products.

The SHOP is also creating limited-edition items inspired by exhibitions on view. The first group includes glass blowing tools by renowned lighting designer Lindsey Adelman, a collection of post-modern rubber mallets by UM Projects, a ceramic funnel by Seattle-based designers Grain, a minimalist brass ruler by Joe Doucet, an interactive hand-blown magnifying glass by Lara Knutson that highlights objects with a yellow light, and the reductionist UNBAG by KNS.

Cooper Hewitt is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in New York City. Hours are Sunday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The cafe and garden open prior to the museum – Sunday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Public transit routes include the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 and 6 subways (86th or 96th Street stations) and the Fifth and Madison Avenue buses. Adult admission, $18; seniors, $12; students, $9. Cooper Hewitt members and children younger than age 18 are admitted free. Pay What You Wish, every Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m. The museum is fully accessible.