Randy Pollak It’s a cold, hazy afternoon in November and the barroom at the Modern — the chic, two-Michelin-starred restaurant attached to the Museum of Modern Art — is humming with an odd mixture of excitement and unease. Clad in dark vests and white button-downs, servers whisk elegant plates of black-truffle cavatelli, beef filet en croûte, and duck confit mezzaluna to the small squarish tables staggered along the room’s hardwood floor.