For most of us Mondays are days that we just want to get over with, are always hectic and a day we simply must make it through to start our week. Well, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston has come up with an enhanced experience that is guaranteed to make at least a few of our Mondays a much nicer day. I was grateful that I had been invited to take a break and make it to the Museum for their second in a series of four Mondays of Pop-Up Dining experiences they are calling Cafe Vienna, where they have converted their usual bustling cafe to a step-back-in-time inspired by their current exhibit, Koloman Moser: Designing Modern Vienna, 1897-2007. The Museum is hosting these special culinary treats and private tours of their current feature exhibit only on select Mondays when the Museum is closed to the general public. This delightful escape allows you to slip into a cafe environment and enjoy Austrian music, lite bites, and rich Viennese coffee or wine in a cafe especially designed by interior designer,Punita Valambhia in collaboration with Houston’s Decorative Center, to complement many of the design elements from the exhibit.
After refreshments were served, we were treated to a brief insight into the exhibit by curator, Cindi Strauss, who shared with us many insider facts about the artist and his works in this retrospective focused on the ten most creative years of Moser, who was a leading figure in the modern design revolution that swept Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. We were then allowed to tour the exhibit privately with docents available to answer any of our questions. This is the first museum retrospective in the United States to focus on these 200 objects that include furniture, jewelry, textiles, prints and designs for architectural interiors, all set in a beautiful setting of walls, screen printed , in a Moser feeling that enhanced the presentation. Some of my favorite pieces were from the luxe silver collection which were rich with semi-precious stones and very interesting designs.
If you wish to have a similar treat, this Cafe Vienna, pop-up dining experience and private tour is only available for two more Mondays, November 4 and 11, each for two sittings…one at 10:00 a.m. and the other at 1:00 p.m. in lower level of Audrey Jones Beck Building. Admission is $55 for MFAH Members and $65 for nonmembers. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here, mfah.org/cafevienna. If you are unavailable for this delightful experience now, stand-by, word is that their will be a similar, French pop-up experience to coincide with the Impressionist exhibit due at the Museum in December. Please make time for this unique treat…guaranteed to enhance those crazy Mondays with a delightful taste of culture!
Conversion of lower level Museum Cafe to a fine dining pop-up experience as Cafe Vienna
MFAH Special Events Director, Linda Kuykendall, greeting the visitors for the Cafe Vienna experience and introducing us to Cindi Strauss, Museum Curator of exhibit
Examples of many of the giftable items inspired by the Moser exhibit, available in the Museum Gift Shop, a must drop-in-to-shop destination that I am always amazed by…so many wonderfully unique gift ideas
Many Viennese epicurean delights, also available in Museum Gift Shop, including the divinely rich, Viennese coffee to take home and brew for yourself
A lovely afternoon break for me with Alma (visiting from Netherlands!), Linda Kuykendall, and Jeff Shell