The restaurant space at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, will soon have a new tenant: Symone, by chef DeVonn Francis, will open in early October. The space’s menu will also be previewed during Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair, running September 24–27.
With daytime dining offered during the museum’s operating hours, Symone will be Francis’s first restaurant, serving French African–inspired cuisine that uses seasonal ingredients and draws on Francis’s Jamaican and Caribbean roots. In 2017, Francis founded Yardy World, which specializes in immersive dining experiences via a Caribbean cuisine.
On the menu will be “elevated comfort foods with an emphasis on seasonality,” like curry chicken salad sandwiches, patties, soft serve, and cod and rice porridge, as well as a seasonal rotation of pastries, according to a release.
“I believe that the extension of food in a museum fortifies it as a cultural center, giving visitors a reason to return again and again,” Francis said in a statement. “Symone is named for my cherished niece, a reference to our relationship, and to the dynamics that come with familiarity, with getting to know a place over time.”
PS1’s dining space will also get a makeover by architecture firm Marsollier Villacorta, which “will reanimate historic details of the PS1 building with warm natural materials and offer al fresco dining on the museum’s terrace, reflecting Francis’s unique approach to creative hospitality,” per a release.
MoMA PS1 has a recent history of storied dining. From 2012 to 2019, it was home to M. Wells Dinette, a revamped iteration of the beloved Long Island City diner. In a New York Times review, restaurant critic Peter Wells wrote, “PS1 should be congratulated for landing a restaurant that suits the neighborhood, the museum’s audience and, trickiest of all, the questing spirit of the work in its galleries.”
That was followed by the Greek-inspired Mina’s, a restaurant by Mina Stone, who was then known for catering events at the now-defunct gallery Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, as well as cooking for the studios of Urs Fischer and Elizabeth Peyton. Mina’s closed in 2023, and the space has operated as a cafe, serving coffee, tea, and pastries since.
“We are thrilled to welcome DeVonn Francis back to MoMA PS1 and to partner with him on the opening of Symone this fall,” MoMA PS1 director Connie Butler said in a statement. “As a distinguished chef and talented creative, Francis weaves together food and storytelling in a way that has established him as a singular voice in the culinary world. I’m thrilled that our audiences, neighbors, and staff will be able to gather at Symone for a memorable meal, a cup of coffee, and a new point of connection.”
