The result was two distinct spaces. (often called "The Pool Room") was a windowless, masculine den. Its centerpiece was the Pool —a shallow, shimmering rectangular fountain of carnelian and white marble, framed by chain-mail curtains designed by artist Richard Lippold. The other room, The Four Seasons proper, faced the Seagram Plaza with floor-to-ceiling windows, birch trees that were changed out for each season, and a shifting floral display by the sculptor Karl Bitter.
It was, simply, the best.
In its prime, the Four Seasons offered one of the most intoxicating drinks in New York: the feeling that you were exactly where you were supposed to be. And as the lights dimmed on that final night in 2016, one waiter was heard to whisper to a regular, "Don't worry, sir. We'll be back. We always come back in the spring." menu four seasons restaurant nyc
But Mies, famously, hated restaurants. He considered them messy, low-brow intrusions on his pure, rectilinear spaces. It was his protégé, , who convinced him otherwise. Johnson was designing the interior of the ground floor and lobby; he saw a void that needed life. He recruited two young, ambitious restaurateurs: Joe Baum and Restaurant Associates .
It was never just a restaurant. It was a stage, a boardroom, a see-and-be-seen theater of American power. To talk about the Four Seasons is to talk about the architecture of Philip Johnson, the social anthropology of the "Power Lunch," and the gustatory evolution of American fine dining. It is a story of how a room designed by geniuses, run by eccentrics, and fed by perfectionists became the most important restaurant in the history of New York City. The story begins not with a chef, but with a chemist. Samuel Bronfman, the Canadian distiller who built the Seagram whiskey empire, wanted a headquarters that would shame its competitors. He commissioned Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to build a tower of amber glass and bronze—the Seagram Building, an icon of International Style architecture. The result was two distinct spaces
In 2016, the landlord—the Bronfman family’s successor company—refused to renew the lease. The restaurant’s co-owners, Julian Niccolini (the volatile, charming Sicilian) and Alex von Bidder (the urbane Dutchman), fought a public, bitter battle. They lost.
One legendary story involves a publishing executive who died during a meal. His body was quietly wheeled out through the kitchen so as not to disturb the nearby table where the CEO of Time Inc. was eating. While the room was Johnson’s masterpiece, the food was Baum’s revolution. Before the Four Seasons, American fine dining meant French classical cuisine: heavy sauces, soufflés, Escoffier. Baum and his chef, Albert Stockli , created "American Seasonal" cuisine before anyone coined the phrase. The other room, The Four Seasons proper, faced
Chefs who passed through the Four Seasons kitchen included , Christian Albin , and Seppi Renggli —men who taught New Yorkers that a vegetable could be the star of a plate. Part IV: The Fall and The Ghost No empire lasts forever. By the 1990s, the "Power Lunch" had moved downtown to Nobu and the Waverly Inn. The Grill Room’s air grew slightly musty. The pink marble, once futuristic, felt dated.