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MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art’s sister museum in Long Island City, Queens, will welcome a new eatery to its restaurant space in the fall, per a press release. In early October, Chef DeVonn Francis will debut Symone, a restaurant inspired by French-African cuisine and fueled by seasonal ingredients. The café, which will be free to access along with MoMA PS1 admission, will specialize in “elevated comfort foods” such as curry chicken salad sandwiches, porridge and fish dishes.
The restaurant’s design, which is being handled by architectural studio Marsollier Villacorta, will incorporate historic details of PS1’s schoolhouse home. The space will also offer al fresco dining on the museum’s terrace.
Francis previously founded the creative culinary studio Yardy in 2017 and served as executive chef for MoMA PS1’s 50th Anniversary Gala earlier this year. Alongside such projects, he currently works as Food Media Program Director of the Food Education Fund. Before Symone, MoMA PS1 was home to the Mina Stone-led, Greek-inspired restaurant Mina’s and the M. Wells Dinette, which operated from 2012 to 2019.
“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.”
“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,” Connie Butler, the director of MoMA PS1, added in her own statement. “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.”
Francis will offer visitors a preview selection of Symone’s menu items at Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair from September 24 to 27, 2026.