Flora Bar is the third restaurant from chef Ignacio Mattos. Inside the Met Breuer, a landmarked building in the Brutalist style, the restaurant caters to a wide range of guests, from those who want a simple bite after seeing the art to those who visit specifically to have a meal here. In 2016, Flora was named one of the city’s best new restaurants by the New York Times, and New York Magazine calls it the best restaurant on the Upper East Side.

There’s an expansive raw bar selection that delivers classics like shrimp cocktail and seafood towers with a hint of originality; a range of smaller dishes like salads, lamb ribs, and croquettes; a burger; and more substantial entrées, like steak and a grilled turbot to share. We offer brunch on the weekends and, on Sundays, we serve a special chicken dinner in addition to our regular menu. Our dessert program, run by Natasha Pickowicz, is consistently ranked among the city’s best.

There’s an airiness to the space which contrasts nicely with the strong, gray tones of this very special structure; people tend to linger. In the warmer months, we seat guests in the outdoor patio.

Ignacio Mattos, Owner and Chef

Ignacio was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of the Argentine grilling master Francis Mallmann, Zuni Café’s Judy Rodgers, and Chez Panisse’s Alice Waters. In 2006, he moved to New York City to become the chef of the NoHo institution Il Buco, where he cooked for five years before opening Isa, in Williamsburg, which earned a James Bear nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2011. In 2013, he opened Estela, downtown, which earned a place on the World's 50 Best Restaurants List. He went on to open the Italian-inspired Café Altro Paradiso in 2016 and, shortly thereafter, was approached by the Metropolitan Museum to create a restaurant for the Met Breuer, Flora bar.

In 2017, Esquire named Ignacio America’s Chef of the Year, and he has been nominated four times for Best Chef: New York by the James Beard Foundation. His cookbook Estela, released in 2018, was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review.