The lox lovers at Russ & Daughters have substantially expanded their NYC footprint in recent years, first opening a new sit-down cafe on the Lower East Side and then expanding their baking operation to a refurbished spot in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Now, their indelible mark can be found uptown with the debut of their newest location inside The Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street.
The new location combines its downtown brethren into one space, operating as both a 60-seat restaurant and a take-out appetizing counter, both on the museum's lower level and accessible to those who aren't also taking in the excellent exhibitions celebrating Jewish artists and innovators (ideally, you should be doing both). Inside, they'll be offering the same dishes that made them famous downtown, like their smoked fish platters, bagel sandwiches, babkas and egg creams.
To further connect the cafe to the museum, The Jewish Museum Director Claudia Gould tapped artist Maira Kalman to create a mural to adorn the walls of the restaurant. The piece depicts "120 vignettes and small scenes" of Kalman's experiences with food, community and Russ & Daughter's important cultural connection to New York City. Another wall captures a scene from the shop's historic space on Houston Street.
1109 Fifth Avenue; Open Sunday - Wednesday 11 a.m. - 5:45 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m - 8 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. with plans to extend hours in the future.
