The Four Seasons Restaurant Will Close Next Week

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 12:11am

 

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/nyregion/four-seasons-lunch-spot-for-manhattans-prime-movers-moves-on.html?smid=fb-share&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 9:33am

My husband and I had our farewell dinner there a few weeks ago. I will miss The Four Seasons. It was lovely visually and the waitstaff was wonderful. You didn't have to be a mover and a shaker to be treated like one. Food highlights were duck, carved tableside, with the crispiest skin, and complimentary cotton candy with candied violets, that made you feel like a kid again.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 10:20am

 

You didn't have to be a mover and a shaker to be treated like one.

 

Thank you, Sally. I've been searching for the words to describe why I was sad about the loss of something that so obviously was a pleasure only (or, at least, primarily) for the one percent.

I was there for three business/pleasure dinners in the Pool Room, four lunches in the Grill Room, and two cocktail parties. Each time, the experience was about as elegant as I could imagine anything being, and the staff was always gracious and welcoming, with absolutely no snobbery or attitude. And the food was always perfect. (At each dinner, we ordered the souffles for dessert and I can still taste them!)

But the highlight for me each time was walking by the Picasso show curtain that hung between the two rooms, which seemed to combine with the Philip Johnson/Mies van der Rohe design to create an atmosphere that was not merely about money, but moreso about the appreciation of the best in food, art, architecture--and life itself.

It was a New York experience I wish everyone I love could have had at least once, a throwback to a time when elegance was a virtue. Now the Picasso is in a museum and the restaurant is being dismantled and auctioned and the world will go on, but with one less beautiful thing: a place where, as you said, you didn't have to be a mover and a shaker to be treated like one. You were treated like a VIP simply because you were there.

 

 

 

Updated On: 7/10/16 at 10:20 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 10:51am

Wow! I cannot believe this! Eating at the Four Seasons was such an event for me because it represented so many things to this young Puerto Rican kid from the Bronx by way of the Lower East Side.

For me it was part of the New York I loved along with the Russian Tea Room, Bergdorf's and Tiffany's.

I know they are relocating but it's not going to be the same...

 

[amaklo]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 11:50am

My uncle's law office was in the Seagram Building, and he took me to the Four Seasons for lunch about 40 years ago when I was a teenager.  Even though over the years I've eaten in many fine restaurants all over the world, I still remember that meal: turban of sole and 1/2 bottle of wine.  I was slightly underage, but he was a good customer so they didn't say anything.  I felt very grown up.  Sorry to see it go, especially under the circumstances.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/10/16 at 3:00pm

Some memories from last Christmas. Dinner before Fiddler on the Roof. My daughter couldn't decide if she wanted the rum raisin or chocolate souffle and Giuseppe (seen here carving the duck) brought her both.

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Updated On: 7/10/16 at 03:00 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 7/11/16 at 11:55am

I'm surprised our resident "Old New York is dying!!!" devotee didn't break or comment on this news.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/11/16 at 11:58am

 

...or even stop by to complain about the prices.

 

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/11/16 at 12:49pm

Too busy complaining about critics taking brick bats to shows, meanwhile..... Hamilton.

 

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/11/16 at 1:36pm

I ate there one time in early 2000 (the year I left NYC).  I honestly don't remember anything about it.

[Anshel2]

Posted: 7/11/16 at 2:10pm

I think it's Hamilton's fault that The Four Seasons is closing.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/12/16 at 1:26am

Rent going up or what? Seems silly. 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/12/16 at 1:43pm

 

Psycho greedy evil tasteless owner. He sued for years to get rid of the Picasso. 

 

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/12/16 at 3:44pm

PalJoey said: "  Psycho greedy evil tasteless owner. He sued for years to get rid of the Picasso. "

Yep!

 

[South Florida]

Posted: 7/12/16 at 3:47pm

:)

"I think it's Hamilton's fault that The Four Seasons is closing."

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 10:34am

Spencer Tunick is famous for his photograph that contains hundreds of nudes in famous locations. A few years back he did a shot in the pool room at The Four Seasons...and I participated in it. A copy of the picture was 'payment' for being in it. lol

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 11:32am

Is that photo available anywhere to view?

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 1:23pm

yes found easily with google: "Spencer Tunick, Four Seasons" was taken in 2008 - wow time flies! The picture that was given to the models is this link:

 

http://theredlist.com/media/database/photography/contemporaine/anatomy_body/spencer_tunick/010-spencer-tunick-theredlist.png

 

I also found this picture online as well...

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2008/03/lunchtime-poll-spencer-tunick/

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 2:01pm

That's really cool!!

[Petralicious]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 2:15pm

Kad said: "I'm surprised our resident "Old New York is dying!!!" devotee didn't break or comment on this news.

 

" We are all Mr Roxy now. Looks like he was right all the time.

 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 8:16pm

Yes, at times we are all Mr. Roxy. Sad to see things from our youth go! Forget Ruby Foo's, who remembers China Peace...or Dish of Salt??

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/13/16 at 8:59pm

I also had a fondness for La Maison Japonaise - French/Japanese fusion before there was such a thing as fusion, and Mamma Leone's, despite it being a tourist spot, was a lot of fun. 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 11:17am

Enjoyed the article, thanks for sharing.

[Tag]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 7:47pm

What ever happened to class?

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 8:13pm

The self indulgence of social media, everyone wants their 15 seconds of fame, sigh.