museum pairings: the whitney + alta linea

One of the most common questions I get from visitors to New York is which museums are worth visiting (answer: all) and where to grab lunch or a drink and just generally recoup nearby.

With The Whitney's new location in prime Chelsea, it may seem odd that my recommended pairing is a ten minute walk to the north. After all, there's The Standard up the block with drinks on the roof; the Jane offers much of the same, the west village has millions of options, and, well, Danny Meyer's Untitled is literally in the museum.

But something about having spent the day in a wash of colors and ideas and crazy images makes you want an environment that's beautiful in its own right.

Alta Linea, located at The High Line Hotel on 10th Ave., is decidedly lovely. An Italian restaurant from the folks that created dell'anima , it's luxe Italian set in a twinkling garden cunningly hedged in from the avenue.

The crowd is by turns banker-esque, international, and vaguely actor-ish. Groups celebrate birthdays under umbrellas, and pairs of men loosen their ties and debate the merits of another g&t.

Bougie it may be, but It's certainly never boring. Regardless: the real reason you are here is not the clientele, but their magical slushie maker, churning out perfect glasses of frozen negroni after negroni. Just sweet enough and bitter enough, it is the perfect post-culture drink.

And if you were wise enough to make it to the museum in the morning? The hotel's lobby has a tiny cafe with full Intelligentsia offerings, so pull up an arm chair and rejoice.

Bonus tip: after a drink (or two), fight your way through tourists eating outdated food at Chelsea Market (just a few minute's walk back towards the museum) and find your way to Los Tacos no. 1. The carne adobada is incredible, the salsas fiery, and the aguas frescas sweet. Some of the best fast Mexican in the city, and you won't even notice that you're standing in front of an Anthropologie, covered in guacamole.