I ate there with my (then) girlfriend and her family. It was during my 1st visit to NYC; the weekend the Stock Market crashed in October, 1987. I enjoyed the restaurant very much. It was a wonderful experience, and more importantly, I ended up falling in love wth NYC. We ate at the Rainbow Room and many months later, what became my favorite Bistro: Raouls, on Prince St. between Sullivan St. and. W. Houston. I made the decision to move there, from the Bible Belt in Louisiana. It was my goal. I reached this goal 6 months later in April, 1988 when I flew to LaGuardia Airport and ended up living there for over 28 years. As someonr coming from a family without much money, I really lucked out by getting a rent-stabilized apartment on Sullivan St. a half a block from Raouls. I lived there over a decade. When I moved out in 2000, my rent was still only $480! That is not long ago. As tiny as it was, I had the best 2 out of 3: Fantastic location and really, really low rent.
As they were. Memory betters pale ink. While the death of the Union Square Cafe impels this (its warren of rooms slipped into envelopes like old photos), it's an axiom nothing stays the same. As the bride of a New Yorker, years ago, I was taken the rounds of those icons great and small that characterized a New York that cannot be moved a few blocks and recreate the sound, no matter how many architects gyrate on a pin. Unless Zagat with its melancholy pages annually of 'closed', I cannot now call up all that made a deepest impression on me. These few stand in for the many, as they were: Luchows, Pavilion, the Oak Bar, Cafe Des Artistes. Later: The Quilted Giraffe, The Jockey Club, the original Aquavit, Aurore. Le Cirque. Trader Vics at the Plaza. Maitre's and faces fade––even the dishes most relished, but not the spaces that augured something to write home about, when there was a home. Nothing stays the same. Ask a physicist.
So lovely to have dinner with you and Maddie...last May? before it closed. I have a few cell phone photos from our evening, but not a clue how to post them...8/16
My fondest memory of the Four Seasons is the being served the fresh cotton candy for desert.
I worked in the Seagram Building for almost 10 years. The firm had a regular table and the bar was often the place to be on a Friday night. That was in the late 70s and early 80s. The firm celebrated its 25th anniversary in the room above the Grill Room. I had many lovely dinners there. Birthdays, my college graduation (in my 30s) and a farewell dinner with friends when we left NY for a few years - can't think of a more NY experience. I have a signed copy of the Four Seasons Cook Book and my husband and I attempted to make the signature Chocolate Bombe cake - later dubbed the divorce cake.
I am so glad that we took our daughter there for her 18th birthday four years ago. The food wasn't as good as I remembered (that duck was really special) but the elegance and service was still there. I'm glad we went.
I am so glad that we took our daughter there for her 18th birthday four years ago. The food wasn't as good as I remembered (that duck was really special) but the elegance and service was still there. I'm glad we went.
Nothing lasts forever, but some things should. Nobody mentioned the Picasso tapestry - what a way to start and end a dinner.
My husband's cousin had her sons' bar mitzvah receptions there. Everything was stunning. Once they had a buffet and they had stuffed cabbage. I thought I would eat the penultimate stuffed cabbage. No, my mother's is better! I'm still sorry that it's closing.
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So Yogi Bearra is right - "Nobody goes there any longer"...I loved the place. oxo, Sue
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I have never forgotten the chocolate dessert I was served at Four Seasons 30 years ago, along with the mystery of entering the 40th floor restaurant.
I hope they are considering a cookbook.
I hope they are considering a cookbook.
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They had one years ago. Check it out on Amazon.
In my former life i was a stockbroker.
I had an important client from a mutual fund who enjoyed good food an I took him to the Four Seasons when it was run by Restaurant Associates at his request. Worst restaurant experience of my life. An embarrassment. Dirty carpet holes in carpet. Empty restaurant but made us wait 2o minutes with a reservation.
Service was just bad. Wine list had everything crossed out. Just one Of my worst ever restaurant experiences. Food was institutional.
I had an important client from a mutual fund who enjoyed good food an I took him to the Four Seasons when it was run by Restaurant Associates at his request. Worst restaurant experience of my life. An embarrassment. Dirty carpet holes in carpet. Empty restaurant but made us wait 2o minutes with a reservation.
Service was just bad. Wine list had everything crossed out. Just one Of my worst ever restaurant experiences. Food was institutional.
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That must have been 40 years ago. Did you ever return? At that time most food was institutional. Where have you been for the last 40 years?
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Forgot the menu...think I had faro..I will never forget the fluidity of the window dressing.
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Days after 9/11, we had our one-and-only meal at the Four Seasons, to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. It was semi-deserted. We also drank what probably will be our only First Growth wine (a Lafite Rothschild), and the sommelier brought out a complimentary bottle of champagne for dessert. It was a trying time in the city and we were happy to just celebrate life. I will treasure the memory of this restaurant--and my young wife--for all of that.
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In 1966 I took my then girlfriend (who later became my wife) for a celebratory dinner when she graduated from high school. It was a truly elegant and wondeful experience. We even saved the menu from this special occasion. It was a delightful evening at one of the most outstsnding restaurants in the city.
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I will miss the Four Seasons, and I've had many meals there. I think the room was very beautiful. But because the Brasserie was destroyed by fire and renovated in 2001, I really don't care. I found that the Brasserie on 53rd street (also designed by Johnson) which was open 24 hours each day, was much more fun. When you entered, the ENTIRE room turned to see who was arriving to descend the stairs. It could have been Kissinger, Diane Keaton and Warren Beatty, Jackie O, or nobody. It was funny. It was simply a high-end French diner, and I enjoyed every meal.
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Elegance has left the restaurant business. Sans Souci in DC. The Dining Room in the Ritz Carlton - Atlanta. The Four Seasons. Just a tip of a melting ice sculpture. Most restaurants now, no matter how exquisite and cutting edge the food, you feel out of place dressed up, men in coats and ties. Those at tables next to you will probably be clad in shorts, tee shirts, flops, and ball caps. Way of the world I guess. More important things, certainly, to worry about. I am feeling really old right now.
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Pah, that's nothing. It's not just in restaurants ... you should see the way some people (mostly young but not all) get dressed up (or rather down) for church and theatre. They eat there too! Noisily and sloppily, not to say of seriously smelly food (have seen Big Macs and Chinese food demolished while watching plays)! The world is no longer civilised.
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I worked at the Four Seasons for a summer as a page in 1979. The owners scheduled my lunch during the prime rush and almost daily the head chef waved a large cleaver at me as I begged for a meal. I saw Diana Ross, Sean Connery, arranged for a President and his retinue to take over most of the restaurant, met a Mafia gangster, and, most memorably, handed Jackie O her umbrella and learned how graceful a celebrity could be. I smile at all the memories of an era ended.
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