Four Seasons Restaurant

The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 East 52nd Street for most of its existence, although it relocated to 42 East 49th Street in its final year of operation. The restaurant was themed around the seasons of the year, with menus, decorations, and vegetation that changed every three months. It attracted numerous high-profile personalities and often hosted "power lunches". Despite mixed commentary of the restaurant's food, the Four Seasons was highly popular, winning the James Beard Award many times.

The Four Seasons was created in order to fill a vacant space next to the Seagram Building's lobby. Originally operated by Restaurant Associates, the Four Seasons opened on July 20, 1959, and soon became a popular luxury restaurant. Following a downturn in patronage in 1973, Tom Margittai and Paul Kovi acquired the Four Seasons, which subsequently became known for its power lunches. In 1994, Margittai and Kovi passed operation of the restaurant to their junior partners, Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini, who operated the restaurant until the Seagram Building location closed in July 2016. After a two-year hiatus, von Bidder and Niccolini reopened the restaurant on 49th Street in August 2018, but the Four Seasons was unprofitable in its new location and closed permanently on June 11, 2019.

The interior of the original restaurant was primarily designed by Philip Johnson, who worked with several designers, including L. Garth and Ada Louise Huxtable. The interior consisted of two discrete spaces known as the Grill Room and the Pool Room, connected by a corridor, as well as a basement lobby on 52nd Street. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated these spaces as an interior landmark in 1989. The spaces had various plants and custom tableware and furniture. Art inside the restaurant included a permanent mural by James Rosenquist; a major Richard Lippold sculpture; a curtain designed by Pablo Picasso; and various temporary exhibitions. The restaurant attracted numerous celebrities, businessmen, and politicians including Anna Wintour, Henry Kissinger, Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, George Lois, Bill Bernbach, and Jackie Kennedy.

## History

The Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, had been completed in 1958 to designs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, and Kahn & Jacobs. During the building's planning, the space behind the ground-story lobby had been intended as a major public area. A crafts museum, an automotive showroom, and an upscale restaurant, were variously proposed for that space. Philip Johnson described it as "leftover space", saying that "we could as well have put a Chrysler showroom there". The building's leasing agent Cushman & Wakefield selected Joseph Baum of Restaurant Associates in 1957 to operate the Four Seasons Restaurant in the space. Samuel Bronfman, the chairman of the building's developer Seagram, agreed to the restaurant plan after he learned that it would increase his building's value.

The restaurant's managers had free rein to create a restaurant, which ultimately cost \$4.5 million (). At the time, it was the most expensive restaurant ever built in New York City. Philip Johnson was hired to design the Four Seasons, as Mies was uninterested in designing the restaurant space inside the Seagram Building. William Pahlmann was also hired for general design; Richard Kelly for lighting design; Karl Linn for landscaping; Everett Lawson Conklin for horticultural detail; Marie Nichols for weavings; and Richard Lippold for the Grill Room's brass sculptures. Interiors magazine said that Restaurant Associates was "evidently convinced that in interiors, as well as food, you get what you pay for".

### Opening and early years

The restaurant opened on July 20, 1959. Time magazine described the Four Seasons as employing "25 chefs and bakers and a battalion of 125 cummerbunded captains, waiters, wine stewards, barmen and busboys". Conversely, The New York Times wrote that there were 15 busboys, 20 captains, and 50 waiters. The Four Seasons' staff had their own seamstress and a chef who cooked exclusively for them. The executive chef was Albert Stockli, who created several menu items specifically for the restaurant and worked with Restaurant Associates until 1965. Dishes on the Four Seasons' menu were sourced from around the world. At the time of the restaurant's opening, The New York Times reported that lunch typically cost \$6, while dinner cost \$10 to \$12, excluding alcoholic beverages. The opening of the Four Seasons prompted other New York restaurant owners to boycott Seagram liquor, as the company had helped finance a competitor within its own building.

Soon after its opening, the Four Seasons became a popular event venue. For example, it hosted a birthday party for then-U.S. president John F. Kennedy in May 1962, as well as a dinner for the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin wine-tasting organization in December 1962. Kennedy's birthday party was the first time that the restaurant was completely closed to the public, but a similar closure also occurred in 1965, when Sharman Douglas hosted a party there for Princess Margaret. The stature of the restaurant was such that, according to Peter Hellman of New York magazine, Stockli "could barely be bothered to greet" a visiting royal family who walked through the door. The Four Seasons was also a popular drinking spot in the mid-1960s.

By the early 1970s, the restaurant was past its prime. This was in part due to the New York City fiscal crisis, as well as the fact that younger audiences were not necessarily interested in the Four Seasons' unconventional menu items. The Wall Street Journal said that "power lunchers looked the place over, saw tourists, and were horrified". Though the restaurant still attracted a loyal following on weekends, it was no longer popular on weekdays. Philip Johnson recalled that, on one day in early 1973, he and his partner John Burgee were the only people eating lunch at the Four Seasons. Restaurant Associates initially decided to continue operating the Four Seasons, which was one of the company's flagship restaurants, even as it closed other restaurants to save money. The firm ultimately decided to give up its lease of the Four Seasons by 1973, though it took over a year for Restaurant Associates to relinquish its lease.

### Margittai and Kovi operation

Restaurant Associates vice president Tom Margittai and Four Seasons director Paul Kovi acquired the Four Seasons in 1973. Shortly afterward, Margittai and Kovi hired Joseph "Seppi" Renggli as the executive chef; under Renggli's leadership, the Four Seasons added new menus for each season. The new operators hired George Lois to design a full-page advertisement, which was published in The New York Times on May 15, 1974. Margittai and Kovi concentrated their efforts on attracting guests; for example, after Margittai called back a customer who wrote a two-page letter complaining about the quality of the service, that customer became a regular. The men also had their staff "study religiously their customers' desires" by remembering their orders. One of the two rooms, which had been a bar, was converted to the Grill Room, which served simpler meals than the more upscale Pool Room. By 1975, Joseph Baum said that Margittai and Kovi had "done a superb job" in restoring the Four Seasons to its former elegance.

In the 1970s and 1980s, many of the Four Seasons' most important guests worked in the publishing and journalism industries, and the restaurant became widely known for its power lunches. The book publisher Michael Korda said in 1977 that the Grill Room was "the most powerful place to eat lunch in town". Two years later, an Esquire article declared the Grill Room to be the setting for "America's Most Powerful Lunch". According to CNN, the term "power lunch" may have come from the Esquire article. Upon its 20th anniversary, the restaurant largely retained its original appearance, although the trees and some of the tableware had been replaced. A mural by James Rosenquist was installed in the Pool Room for the restaurant's 25th anniversary in 1984. The Four Seasons' operators further redecorated the restaurant in 1988 at a cost of \$500,000.

When the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was considering designating the Seagram Building as a city landmark in 1989, Margittai and Kovi separately endorsed landmark designation for the restaurant. The Seagram Company, as well as the building's then-owner Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), opposed designating the restaurant as a landmark, even as they endorsed similar protections for the Seagram Building and its lobby. On October 3, 1989, the Four Seasons became New York City's second landmarked restaurant, after Gage and Tollner in Brooklyn. The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the designation in January 1990. The TIAA sued the LPC in 1990 to overturn the landmark designation for the Four Season, arguing that the restaurant was personal property and that the designation would force the restaurant to continue operating even if the owners wished to close it. The Four Seasons' operators had supported landmark designation precisely for that reason, as it would give the operators more leverage when they renegotiated their lease. The lawsuit was escalated to the New York Court of Appeals, which upheld the designation in 1993.

Meanwhile, following the Black Monday stock market crash in 1987, patronage at the Four Seasons had started to decline. In the year following the crash, business decreased by as much as 15 percent, and Margittai and Kovi had to fire some of the staff. In part because of the declining business, Renggli resigned as the restaurant's executive chef in 1990, and Christian Albin was hired to replace him. Even in early 1992, the Grill Room still had only six to ten patrons on a typical night, but patronage had recovered by the end of that year, when the Grill Room was filled to capacity at night.

### Von Bidder and Niccolini operation

#### 1990s and 2000s

In 1994, Margittai and Kovi passed operation of the restaurant to their junior partners, Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini, who continued to run the restaurant in the Seagram Building for two decades. At the time, von Bidder had expressed optimism that the restaurant would again become a popular venue for business lunches. During this decade, financial executives came to frequent the Four Seasons. Seagram & Sons bought a majority stake in the restaurant from Margittai and Kovi in 1995, and they renewed the restaurant's lease for 17 years in 1998. Power lunches at the Four Seasons again declined following the September 11 attacks in 2001, though they had started to return within two years.

French media conglomerate Vivendi, which acquired the Seagram Company in 2000, started selling off the Seagram Building's art in 2003 to raise money. These included some of the artwork in the Four Seasons, which were generally not protected as a city landmark, with the exception of Richard Lippold's sculptures. Christian Albin, the Four Seasons' executive chef, died suddenly in June 2009. Fabio Trabocchi was hired as the Four Seasons' executive chef in October 2009, but he left that position after only three months. Pecko Zantilaveevan, a longtime sous chef, was then promoted to the executive-chef position in April 2010. The Four Seasons also hired a second executive chef, Larry Finn. Further controversy over the restaurant's artwork arose in 2014 when the Seagram Building's owner, Aby Rosen, proposed removing a tapestry by Pablo Picasso, which was not protected as a landmark. The artwork was ultimately removed following a lawsuit.

#### Demise

In mid-2015, Rosen announced that the restaurant's lease would not be extended upon its expiry the following year. His company RFR Realty proposed changes to the Four Seasons' interior, which the LPC largely rejected, except for a replacement of the carpet. Prior to this announcement, Niccolini and von Bidder had conflicted with Rosen for the preceding several years. The Four Seasons’ rent increased from \$20 to \$105 per square foot (\$220 to \$1,130/m2). The Seagram Building location closed after dinner service on July 16, 2016. Soon after, on July 26, auctioneer Wright sold the furnishings of the restaurant inside the old Pool Room. The sale was originally estimated to bring in \$1.33 million but, by the end of the auction, it had brought in \$4.1 million. The items were sold at unusually high prices: for example, four ashtrays were sold for \$12,500 and a banquette sold for \$52,500. Rosen opened two new restaurants in the old Seagram Building space, known as the Pool and the Grill, which merged into a single restaurant in early 2020.

At the end of 2017, Niccolini and von Bidder announced that they would reopen the restaurant at 280 Park Avenue the next year, following a two-year delay. Prior to the restaurant's reopening, Diego Garcia was hired as executive chef and Bill Yosses were hired as pastry chef. The Four Seasons reopened at 42 East 49th Street (inside 280 Park Avenue) on the week of August 14, 2018. The new space, designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, cost \$30 million to build. This cost was partially funded by donations from some of the Four Seasons' longtime patrons. Many of the design elements evoked the décor of the former location. The space included a long hallway connecting the new restaurant's bar and dining room. The bar room had 50 seats and contained a sunken reflecting pool measuring 16 by 16 feet (4.9 by 4.9 m). The rectangular dining room had stone floors with irregular patterns; windows with gold-mesh panels; and metal rods on the ceiling. The new location was smaller than the original Seagram Building location, with 33 tables and a total of 299 seats.

In December 2018, von Bidder requested that Niccolini resign from his position due to sexual harassment allegations against the latter. The relocated restaurant struggled to make a profit in its new location, in part because the two co-owners had borrowed nearly \$40 million to open its new location. Other issues included the declining popularity of the "power lunch", as well as the negative publicity surrounding Niccolini's resignation. The Four Seasons closed permanently on June 11, 2019. Indicative of the Four Seasons' troubles was the fact that the restaurant had several empty tables during its final Saturday. The Brazilian firm Fasano Group leased the 280 Park Avenue space in late 2019, and Fasano opened an Italian restaurant there in February 2022, retaining much of the décor of the second Four Seasons.

## Design

The interior of the original restaurant was primarily designed by Philip Johnson, who worked with several designers, including L. Garth Huxtable and Ada Louise Huxtable. At Restaurant Associates' request, Johnson also collaborated with William Pahlmann, who influenced the furniture arrangement and the kitchen's layout. Architectural critic Paul Goldberger wrote that the original spaces comprised "New York's first consciously modern restaurant".

The space could be accessed either from the Seagram Building's lobby or from its own entrance on 52nd Street. The restaurant had five dining rooms, preserved in the modern-day Pool and Grill restaurants. The former Pool Room is on the north side of the first floor and the former Grill Room is on the south side. There are two dining areas on a balcony above the Grill Room, as well as a balcony above the Pool Room. These spaces are within the first and second floors of the Seagram Building, east of the lobby. The restaurant could fit 485 diners simultaneously.

### Pool Room and Grill Room

The Pool and the Grill are discrete 60-by-90-foot (18 by 27 m) rooms, designed as column-free spaces measuring 20 feet (6.1 m) high. As a result, the Seagram Building's engineers had to modify the tower's superstructure to transfer structural loads from the building's upper floors. The spaces contain design features similar to those in the Seagram Building's lobby, with travertine walls and floors; cement ceilings with gray-glass mosaic tiles; and bronze engaged piers. Carpets were attached to the floors using Velcro strips. The ceilings consist of gridded off-white aluminum panels, laid in a pattern resembling a coffered ceiling; these panels contained recessed lighting. The Pool and the Grill have glass curtain walls with bronze mullions and a bronze railing. The windows had metal curtains designed by Marie Nichols. Air from hidden ventilating ducts caused the curtains to ripple; the direction and intensity of the ripples changed depending on the season. Johnson had suggested the installation of the curtains, but the rippling effects were an unintended consequence.

The Pool Room is centered around a 20-by-20-foot (6.1 by 6.1 m) white marble pool. Four large planters at the corners of the Pool's marble pool held fig trees. Both the pool and the planters were placed there upon Pahlmann's suggestion. The northern and western walls are glass curtain walls, while the southern wall is faced in walnut with rawhide panels, containing openings to the kitchen and restaurant corridor. On the eastern side of the Pool, a staircase connects to a mezzanine on a podium slightly above the main floor. Above the gray-rawhide base of the podium, a bronze railing and movable walnut partition separates the mezzanine and main Pool Room. The northern wall is a glass curtain wall while the eastern and southern walls had carpet panels. The floor in both spaces had a carpet designed like a grid.

The Grill Room, originally the Bar Room, has a lounge in its northwest corner and a bar at its southwest corner. It has a similar glass curtain wall on its western and southern walls, as well as French walnut walls on the north and east. The bar area had an ebonized walnut floor, separated from the dining area by a laminated-glass partition. Additionally, the lounge area was separated from the main Grill by a walnut desk. The two private dining rooms are on a balcony raised above the main Grill, accessed by separate staircases and separated from the main Grill via walnut paneled doors. The smaller private room on the south and the larger room on the north are separated by a doorway with walnut sliding doors. The ceiling is similar to the main restaurant ceiling, with a black finish and irregularly scattered "punched holes" for lighting fixtures.

### Other spaces

Running north–south between the Grill Room and Pool Room is a corridor, which is at the top of the stairs leading from the main lobby. The reservation desk was originally placed at the top of these stairs, but it was relocated to one side of the corridor in 1966. A glass wall and bronze double door separate the corridor from the main lobby. The corridor itself measures 70 feet (21 m) long and contains travertine floors and walls. The north and south walls of the corridor contain doors leading to vestibules outside either room. The vestibules contain luminous dropped ceilings, designed in an egg-crate pattern. The eastern wall of the Grill Room's vestibule has a coat-check area with French-walnut walls, while the eastern wall of the Pool Room's vestibule includes a wine cellar. East of this corridor, the two rooms are separated by a large kitchen with dishwashing facilities above.

The eastern section of the 52nd Street wing has an entrance that leads directly to the Grill and Pool restaurant, bypassing the main lobby. The site slopes down to the east, so the 52nd Street entrance is one story below the rest of the restaurant. At the time of the restaurant's opening, this was an unconventional layout; according to Johnson, "There was no precedent for bringing people in from down below and walking them up." The 52nd Street entrance leads to an entrance lobby and foyer with travertine floors, a gridded white ceiling, coat-check area, offices, and restrooms. The 52nd Street entrance is connected to the Grill Room via a staircase. The railings of the staircase are composed of two sets of staggered rods, which appear to shimmer whenever somebody walks up the stairs.

## Theming

### Logo and colors

Emil Antonucci designed the Four Seasons Restaurant's logo. Antonucci procrastinated in designing the logo, finally drawing it up during the weekend before it was to be presented. The logo was composed of four hand-drawn trees, which appeared to be printed in a woodcut technique. There was one tree each in brown, pink, green, and red, each representing the winter, spring, summer, and autumn respectively. In the years after the logo was created, it became "one of the best-known restaurant logos in the world", according to New York magazine.

Variations of the logo's colors were used in staff uniforms, menus, and matchbooks, which were changed each season. The staff uniforms used azalea-colored cloth that was custom-made for the purpose. William Doerfler printed the menus, which were made of rough vellum and Japanese rice paper. They were so expensive to print that Joseph Baum was reluctant to reprint the menus if an item needed to be modified. Other items, including banquettes, were also changed to complement the overall theme.

### Tableware and furniture

L. Garth Huxtable and Ada Louise Huxtable designed over a hundred items of tableware for the restaurant, ranging from champagne glasses to bread trays. The tableware took over nine months to design. According to the Huxtables, Restaurant Associates had requested that the Four Seasons have "a distinctive, identifiable line of accessories and equipment in keeping with the sophisticated elegance of the restaurant interiors". Different pieces of tableware were designed for each type of food or drink. For instance, there were separate wine and liquor glasses, as well as different tableware for cold and hot appetizers, fruit, vegetable, cheeses, caviar, and house specialties. The serving dishes and platters were made entirely of silver. Some pieces of tableware were quickly removed due to their impracticality, including wobbly fruit bowls and glassware with the restaurant's logo. Other pieces, including silverware for tableside cooking, were more durable and lasted for several decades.

The original furniture included upholstered-leather Brno chairs designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and tulip tables designed by Eero Saarinen. The bar contained upholstered stools designed by Saarinen. In addition, Johnson designed simple, large dining tables for both rooms. The furniture and furnishings were sold off in July 2016. Some of the Four Seasons Restaurant's tableware and furniture are part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). These included 18 pieces of tableware that were placed in MoMA's Design Collection prior to the restaurant's opening.

### Plants

The restaurant had a \$50,000 annual budget just for the maintenance of the plants, which included four fig trees, two podocarpus plants, a Swiss cheese plant, a fiddle leaf fig, and five philodendrons. Plants were changed four times a year. Each season's plantings were selected in part based on how well their color harmonized with the overall palette. Plantings in the spring included azaleas and birches; in the summer, palms and philodendrons; in the autumn, oak-leaf branches and mums; and in the winter, white birches. Some of the plantings stayed in the restaurant year-round, including grape ivy and nephthytis.

The fig trees around the Pool Room's pool measured 17 feet (5.2 m) tall and were swapped out four times a year. The trees in the Pool Room had to be small enough to squeeze through the doorways, yet hardy enough to thrive and grow once installed indoors. The restaurant's landscape architect, Karl Linn, wrote that he examined hundreds of nurseries to obtain the correct trees. Additional plants were placed along the walls and near the top of the restaurant. Next to the windows were several baskets, each of which contained seasonal plants.

To ensure the survival of the plants, the Four Seasons had its own microclimate, and humidity, light levels, and temperature were adjusted accordingly. Workers spent three hours a day watering, spraying, pruning, and cleaning the plants. The air-conditioning system in each room provided sufficient humidity for the plants. The ceiling lights provided sufficient illumination for the plants near the top of each room, but the dim ceiling lights did not provide enough illumination for the other plants. At night, plants were illuminated by mercury oxide lamps for eight hours. Every morning, between sunrise and the restaurant's opening time, all the lights were turned on at maximum brightness, and portable mercury vapor lamps were placed beneath the fig trees. To prevent the fig trees from growing too quickly, the room temperature was decreased by up to 8 °F (4.4 °C) after closing time, and the soil in the fig trees' planters was kept dry. Flowering plants were also replaced weekly.

### Art

When the restaurant opened, Craig Claiborne of The New York Times wrote that the walls had "a fortune in art and tapestry". Richard Lippold designed artwork for the restaurant's ceiling, consisting of clusters of gold-colored brass rods. Lippold created two such artworks for the restaurant: one above the bar of the Grill Room and the other above the mezzanine of the Pool Room. There were either 3,000 or 4,000 rods in each sculpture. It took several months for Lippold and his assistant Marilynn Gelfman to install the rods in the Grill Room, which were suspended from two wires. Another of Lippold's associates, Gianni Morselli, then cleaned each rod at a cost of \$20,000. The idea for the ceiling rods was devised because Johnson and Lambert wanted to make the 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) spaces seem more cozy without actually modifying the room's dimensions or the "elegance" of its design. According to The New Yorker, the artwork appeared to resemble "golden strokes of rain".

A 20-by-20-foot (6.1 by 6.1 m) curtain designed by Pablo Picasso for the Ballets Russes ballet Le Tricorne (1919) was hung in the foyer between the Grill Room and the Pool Room. The curtain is a portion of a Picasso tapestry used as a prop for the ballet that was purchased in 1957 by Phyllis Lambert, the daughter of the Seagram founder Samuel Bronfman, and installed prior to the restaurant's opening in 1959. The curtain was owned by the New York Landmarks Conservancy and was removed in 2014, being reinstalled at the New-York Historical Society.

In 1975, four Ronnie Landfield paintings from Philip Johnson's collection were installed on the wall that was initially supposed to host the Rothko commission. The artist James Rosenquist was commissioned to install a permanent mural in 1984, after which the Landfield paintings returned to Johnson's collection. Rosenquist's mural was known as Flowers, Fish and Females for the Four Seasons. The work measured 7.54 feet (2.30 m) high and 23 feet 11 inches (7.29 m) wide. It depicted two women's faces on either side of a group of fruits and flowers, with fish below them. The faces and the other motifs are overlaid in a manner resembling slits. The mural was hung on the eastern wall of the Pool Room's mezzanine, which was renamed the Rosenquist Room in honor of this work.

In addition to the works on permanent public display, there were other works and continuously revolving exhibitions in the dining rooms and the 52nd Street entrance walls. These included three rugs by Joan Miró, as well as paintings by Frank Stella and Jackson Pollock. The restaurant also hosted temporary exhibitions of sculptures, including those by Jean Dubuffet, Roy Lichtenstein, and Henry Moore. The Seagram Company had owned many of these works of art.

#### Uninstalled works

The artist Mark Rothko was engaged to paint a series of murals in 1958, the Seagram murals. He had wanted the dark paintings to sicken the restaurant's patrons. During the period in which Rothko worked on his murals, the Four Seasons rented Jackson Pollock's painting Blue Poles from its then-owner, art collector Ben Heller. Rothko canceled the commission after visiting the restaurant. The final series was dispersed and now hangs in three locations: London's Tate Gallery, Japan's Kawamura Memorial Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Rothko's murals were the only pieces of artwork that were commissioned specifically for the Four Seasons.

## Cuisine

The Four Seasons pioneered what later came to be called "New American Cuisine". When the Four Seasons opened, Time magazine wrote that the restaurant had "the highest-priced—and most exotic—menus in high-priced Manhattan", akin to the 21 Club, Colony Club, and Le Pavillon. Patrons could enjoy a sausage from one of the restaurant's "sausage trees" as they were being seated. Patrons could choose from a number of entrées. These included herbed lobster parfait, which consisted of pieces of lobster covered in hollandaise sauce and whipped cream; small clams with truffles and green onions; and beef marrow with cream and bouillon. Main courses included "Violets in Summer Snow", "Sweet and Sour Pike in Tarragon Aspic", and "Piccata of Piglet in Pastry". By the 1990s, the restaurant offered such menu items as "Chinese egg rolls, French terrines, German spatzle, Italian penne, spa cuisine and good old scrambled eggs." Some dishes, such as Dover sole, were consistently offered throughout the restaurant's existence.

More elaborate dishes were typically served in the Pool Room, while the Grill Room had a simpler menu. Patrons could request fresh herbs on their dishes, contrary to most American restaurants, which at the time of the Four Seasons' opening did not provide fresh herbs. The Four Seasons was the first restaurant in the United States to cook using fresh, wild mushrooms; these were placed not only in salads but also in filet mignon, sauces, and toast. The restaurant maintained its own herb garden for this purpose. Cotton candy was a house specialty, making the Four Seasons the first fine-dining restaurant to offer the confection. In addition, six varieties of coffee were available.

The chef James Beard was a principal contributor to the development of its seasonal-food concept, pairing appropriate wines for each season. Frank Prial of The New York Times wrote that "wine is an integral part of the Four Seasons operation", in contrast with other restaurants, where the selection of wine was a secondary consideration. There were two air-conditioned wine cellars, one next to the Pool Room and the other in the basement; they collectively held 15,000 bottles. When the Four Seasons opened in 1959, Beard was hired to instruct the staff on the characteristics and history of each type of wine. By 1975, the restaurant had 260 types of wine on its regular menu, including 80 American wines. Additionally, the restaurant had a special menu of 200 wines, which were available only in limited quantities; these special varieties represented about 1,000 total bottles.

## Clientele

The restaurant was known as much for its clientele as its food, with its Midtown location making it convenient for power lunches. The Four Seasons' clientele largely consisted of what Joe Baum described as "the achievers"; for many regular customers, the clientele was more important than the menu. Jeff Gordinier of The New York Times wrote that, even though the restaurant had hired celebrity chefs such as David Chang and Daniel Humm, the food "can seem like a supporting player". Town and Country magazine described the restaurant as a gathering place for influential figures in New York City, and a 1988 Newsday account said one could "fill a gossip column for a week" just by looking at which customers sat with each other.

According to a 1986 New York magazine article, the management knew half of the Pool Room's guests by name, and 90 percent of Bar Room customers went there at least once a week. If the management did not know a customer's name, the guest would introduce themselves at the reservation desk, and their name would be written on a card. The card would be passed to the captain responsible for that guest's table, who would then address the customer by name. The Four Seasons' management gave frequent patrons special treatment; according to Alex von Bidder, the restaurant once delivered a dinner to a "prized customer" in his hospital room in Boston. The restaurant's dress code prohibited such clothing as jeans and windbreakers, even for regular customers.

Typically, the Pool Room was more highly coveted than the Grill (Bar) Room, and the seats around the Pool Room's pool were more popular than those near the windows. The Wall Street Journal wrote in 1984: "At lunch time, serious people opt for the Bar Room, and have been doing so long before Michael Korda told them they should in his book on power." Despite the Four Seasons' stature, the rich and famous often dined among the general public, leading GQ food critic Alan Richman to describe the restaurant as "one of the last high-level democratic institutions". In the restaurant's later years, Julian Niccolini oversaw the restaurant's seating assignments. Niccolini deliberately seated conflicting parties, such as ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends, next to each other, describing himself as a "good devil".

### Notable customers

In the earliest years of the Four Seasons' existence, frequent customers included lawyers Louis Nizer and Roy Cohn, U.S. senator Jacob Javits, and philanthropist Charles Revson. In addition, film producer Joseph E. Levine often hosted parties at the Pool Room, inviting movie stars such as Sophia Loren, Franchot Tone, Robert Wagner, and Natalie Wood. According to Julian Niccolini, later customers included Anna Wintour, Henry Kissinger, Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, George Lois, Bill Bernbach, and Jackie Kennedy. Other frequent patrons included businessman Barry Diller, fashion designer Bill Blass, and businessman Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr.

Niccolini said in 1999 that only four regular patrons were always assigned the same table: Simon & Schuster editor-in-chief Michael Korda; the restaurant's own architect Philip Johnson; Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.; and Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. According to lawyer Robert H. Montgomery Jr., the junior Bronfman typically sat on the balcony, which was an unpopular place to sit until Edgar Jr. became CEO of Seagram. Architectural Record wrote in 2016: "In one corner, Table 32 still exudes the aura of having been 'owned' by Johnson for decades." According to Niccolini, there were about 10 to 12 daily customers, including Art Cooper, Sandy Weill, and Richard Gelb, who were not always assigned the same table. Niccolini and his partner Alex von Bidder typically called these regulars every day, setting aside several tables for emergencies; the owners canceled the regulars' reservations if there was no response by noon. Niccolini said regular customers usually did not care about where they were seated, and most complaints about seating came from "people who are here only once a year and expect the best spot".

## Impact

### Critical reception

Reviews of the Four Seasons Restaurant largely praised the atmosphere, although commentary of the food itself was more mixed. When the Four Seasons first opened, Craig Claiborne wrote for The New York Times: "There has never been a restaurant better keyed to the tempo of Manhattan than the Four Seasons." New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton gave the Four Seasons two out of four stars in 1979, writing that the restaurant had good acoustics and good service, but the quality of the food varied considerably. Bryan Miller, writing for the Times in 1985, gave the restaurant three stars for its design and service, although he objected to the quality of some dishes such as the peppery duck. Food critic Seymour Britchky described the gravlax as "almost inedible" and the snapper as "grilled until dry".

The interior design was also praised. Interiors magazine described the restaurant's design as combining "its exceptional sumptuousness with exquisite refinement". Paul Goldberger wrote: "The wood‐panel bar with its Lippold sculpture is at once warm and dignified; the main dining room with its central pool and vast spaces is luxurious." Conversely, Goldberger said the Four Seasons' decoration was relatively muted compared to that of other restaurants.

Commentary of the restaurant continued in later years. Peter Hellman wrote for New York magazine in 1986 that, although the food at the Four Seasons was "not the absolute best in town", the restaurant itself was a customer favorite. Zagat's New York City Restaurant Survey ranked the Four Seasons as the city's most popular restaurant from 1983 to 1988. Ruth Reichl of the Times gave the Four Seasons three of four stars in 1995, writing: "In its 35th year the restaurant that introduced the idea of changing seasonal menus to America is still a pioneer." Times critic Frank Bruni reduced the restaurant to two stars in 2007, saying that "the restaurant, like so much else, isn’t quite what it was". When the Seagram Building location closed in 2016, The New York Times described the restaurant as "probably the most important New York restaurant of the 20th century".

After the Four Seasons reopened at its new location in 2018, it was broadly criticized, especially when compared to the Grill and Pool restaurants that replaced it at the Seagram Building. New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells praised the food and the decoration, saying that Garcia "has turned the Four Seasons into a seafood restaurant, and a very good one". Even so, Wells gave the restaurant only one star, saying: "There is a good case to be made for not reviewing the newly relocated Four Seasons Restaurant at all but just leaving it on the slush pile, and that case can be found in court records involving Julian Niccolini." Adam Platt of Grub Street gave "two stars for the best of Garcia's cooking and the diligent service", but he subtracted one star "for the insane prices and the somewhat dated vibe".

### Awards and media

The restaurant has won the James Beard Award several times, including for Outstanding Wine Service in 1997 and for Outstanding Service in 1998. The James Beard Foundation called the Four Seasons an "Outstanding Restaurant" in 1999 and described it as a "Design Icon" in 2016. In addition, the Four Seasons received the American Association of Nurserymen's special national award for indoor landscaping in 1960.

Margittai and Kovi published a Four Seasons cookbook in 1981. The book included autographs from notable customers, as well as recipes from the executive chef at the time, Seppi Renggli. The New-York Historical Society also sponsored a documentary film about the restaurant, It Happened Over Lunch, released in 2018.

## See also

- List of New American restaurants
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets

Defunct restaurant in New York City

2019 disestablishments in New York (state)

Defunct New American restaurants in New York (state)

New American restaurants in New York City


Nikita Parris

Nikita Josephine Parris (born 10 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester United and the England national team. She previously played for Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais, Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal.

From 2018 to 2020, Parris held the record as all-time leading scorer in the Women's Super League. With Olympique Lyonnais, Parris has won the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 2020 Coupe de France Féminine (Women's French Cup), the 2019 Trophée des Championnes, and the 2019 Women's International Champions Cup. With Manchester City, she won the 2016 league title, the 2016 and 2018–19 Women's Super League Cup as well as the 2016–17 and 2018–19 Women's FA Cup.

For England, Parris helped the national team reach the semi-finals of the Euro 2017 and a fourth-place finish at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Her six goals during World Cup qualification ranked first within UEFA nations and secured England's place at the top tournament. She helped England win its first-ever SheBelieves Cup in 2019.

Parris was named the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year in 2019. She was included in The Guardian's list of The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World in 2018 and 2019.

## Early life and education

Born in Toxteth, an inner city area of Liverpool, Parris was raised with her twin sister and two brothers by her mother, Jo, who worked three jobs to support the family.

Parris attended St. Patrick's Primary School in Liverpool where she trained with the athletic team and dreamed of playing like Arsenal and Scottish international player Julie Fleeting. At age six, she began playing football with boys on a grass border near her home and continued playing with boys until she was sixteen. Every time her mother looked out, she would see Parris slide tackling the boys or them slide tackling her.

As a youth, Parris started her own football team: "I started a football team myself at the age of eleven because I wanted to have a women’s team in the local community. So, I gathered all my friends and family and everyone I knew... and we were successful. We won the league." Parris' sister and two cousins also played in the team, which was called Kingsley United. As part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring Parris was installed at the club in 2022.

Parris was a girlhood Liverpool FC supporter. Her mother often bought her the latest kit, and she would emulate her favourite players Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Luis Suárez. At age ten, Parris was recruited by Mo Marley, head coach of Everton. At the time, Parris did not want to leave, but later joined Everton's Centre of Excellence at age 14.

Parris attended Bellerive FCJ Catholic College, but in September 2010 switched to Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School for her sixth form education, because it was a specialist sports college. She earned a degree in sports development from Liverpool John Moores University.

## Club career

### Everton

Parris made her senior-team debut for Everton in May 2010 at the age of 16 in an away game against Arsenal, coming on as a second-half substitute. In August 2010, she played her second match during the qualifying tournament for the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League. During a match against Borec on 7 August 2010 she scored a brace, helping Everton to a 10–0 win. Parris played in five matches for Everton during the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League. The following year, she was named to Everton's squad for the inaugural season of the Women's Super League (FA WSL). She made three appearances during the 2011 FA WSL season.

During the 2012 FA WSL season, Parris played in 10 matches, starting five. The 2013 season marked the start of Parris' goalscoring prowess for Everton. She scored six goals in 11 games. She scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 win over Notts County on 15 September. Her two goals against Liverpool on 12 September were Everton's only goals in the 4–2 loss. Everton finished in third place during the regular season with a record.

Parris scored 11 goals in 19 games during the 2014 season, but Everton went winless in the league and were relegated to FA WSL 2. Following her 2014 performance, she was placed on the shortlist for the 2015 PFA Women's Young Player of the Year and was selected for the WSL Team of the Year.

#### Manchester City (loan)

Parris joined Manchester City on a season-long loan in January 2015, reuniting with former teammates Toni Duggan and Jill Scott, who had left Everton two seasons prior, as she thought she needed to play in WSL 1 to contend for a place on the senior England national team. Parris scored four goals in 13 matches. She scored her first goal — a game-winner — during a match against Sunderland when she headed in from a corner kick in the 17th minute. During a match against Liverpool, she scored an equaliser in the 54th minute, another header, this time off of Izzy Christiansen's free-kick. Manchester City finished in second place during the regular season with a record.

### Manchester City

Parris signed with Manchester City on a two-year contract in January 2016. During the 2016 FA WSL season, she scored one goal in 16 games. On 29 April, her game-winning goal in the 40th minute cemented the team's 2–0 win against Sunderland. City finished in first place during the regular season with a record. She played in all three games of the final stages of the League Cup helping Manchester City clinch the 2016 title.

Parris made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut for Manchester City on 6 October 2016 during the team's 2–0 win over Zvezda-2005 Perm in the Round of 32 of the 2016–17 tournament. She competed in seven matches, helping Manchester City advance to the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais.

During the FA WSL Spring Series in early 2017, she scored three goals in the six games that she played. Manchester City finished in fifth place with a record. She helped the club clinch the 2016–17 FA Women's Cup the same year. During the 2017–18 FA WSL season, she was a starting forward in 17 of the 18 games she played and scored 11 goals, ranking second in the league behind Ellen White of Birmingham City. During the team's 3–0 win against Sunderland on 28 January 2018, she scored twice in the first half securing Manchester City's win and top position in the league. She scored her second brace of the season against Liverpool on 11 February to lift Manchester City back into first place. In May, she scored a hat-trick against Yeovil Town. Manchester City finished in second place during the regular season with a record and secured a berth to the 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League (their third consecutive qualification).

Parris competed with Manchester City in eight matches of the 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League. She scored four goals throughout the tournament, including two game-winners against Lillestrøm, and Linköpings FC. Parris helped Manchester City reach the semi-finals where they were narrowly defeated 0–1 (aggregate) by eventual champions, Olympique Lyonnais.

In November 2017, Parris signed a new contract with Manchester City through the end of the 2018–19 FA WSL season. During the 2018–19 season, Parris scored 19 goals in 19 games. She was the second-highest scorer in the league for the season, the highest all-time WSL goalscorer, and second in the all-time assists. Parris began her season goal scoring with a brace in Manchester City's 4–0 win against Everton on 20 September. She scored another brace during the team's 7–1 win against West Ham United. At age 24, she became the Women's Super League's all-time top goalscorer on 4 November 2018 after scoring a brace in the team's 3–0 win against Liverpool. Her 37 goals inched ahead of former Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko. Of the notable record Parris said, "it's an amazing feeling. For me to be so young and be top goalscorer with plenty of years left in me – it bodes well for the future and hopefully it will continue." She scored her fourth brace of the season during a 3–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on 27 January 2019, including a penalty kick in the third minute of the match. Parris notched a hat-trick in the first half of the team's 4–3 win against Reading. Manchester City finished in second place behind Arsenal with a record. Parris' brace against Chelsea in the semi-final earned City a berth to the 2018–19 FA Women's League Cup Final where they defeated Arsenal in penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw and extra time. The same year, she helped Manchester City win the 2018–19 FA Women's Cup in front of 43,264 fans at Wembley Stadium.

Parris competed with Manchester City in the team's two 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League Round of 32 matches where they were defeated 1–3 (aggregate) by Atlético Madrid.

On 11 May 2019, Parris announced she would leave City at the end of the 2018–19 season. During her time at Manchester City, Parris made 127 appearances for the club, and scored 62 goals. Her 25 assists ranked second all-time in the league after Karen Carney with 35. In 2019, Parris was voted the Football Writers’ Association Women's Player of the Year. The striker helped Manchester City win two FA Cups in 2017 and 2019, two Continental Cups, a league title and two Champions League semi-finals.

### Olympique Lyonnais

On 19 June 2019, Division 1 Féminine side Olympique Lyonnais confirmed they had signed Parris on a three-year contract. Parris scored her first league goal for the club, on her debut, in a 6–0 win against Marseille on 24 August. Parris' two goals in a 5–0 home win over Montpellier on 23 February were her last of the season as the 2019–20 Division 1 Féminine season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in France. In 15 league appearances and 10 starts, Parris scored eight goals. Olympique Lyonnais finished first in the league and secured a berth to the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League. Parris added four goals in six 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League appearances, but missed the final through suspension after she was sent off in a fractious semi-final win over rivals Paris Saint-Germain. Olympique Lyonnais won the Champions League title for the fifth consecutive time after defeating VfL Wolfsburg 3–1 in the 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. This marked Olympique Lyonnais' seventh Champions League title.

Parris scored her first goal of the 2020–21 Division 1 Féminine season in a 3–0 win against Reims on 11 September 2020. During a match against Soyaux on 13 November, she scored a double to lift Olympique Lyonnais to a 5–1 win. She scored 4 goals in 26 minutes against Issy lifting Olympique Lyonnais to a 9–0 win in December. Parris scored a double against Paris FC on 22 January 2021 increasing her goal tally of the season to eleven.

### Arsenal

Following two seasons with Olympique Lyonnais, Parris returned to the Super League, signing with Arsenal for a club-record fee on 2 July 2021. She scored her first goal for the club on her 18 August debut versus Okzhetpes in the Champions League. She scored her 50th goal in the WSL in the match against Aston Villa on 1 May 2022.

### Manchester United

On 6 August 2022, Parris was confirmed to have signed for WSL club Manchester United.

## International career

### England

On 4 June 2016, Parris made her senior international debut for England as a substitute in England's Euro 2017 qualifying victory over Serbia. She registered one assist as England won 7–0. Three days later, Parris once again came off the bench in the reverse fixture, this time scoring twice as England repeated the 7–0 scoreline.

On 27 June 2017, Parris scored her first goal in a major tournament, netting the winner in England's 2–1 final group stage win against Portugal at Euro 2017. Parris and her England teammates pointedly ran to celebrate with coach Mark Sampson after her goal in their next match against Russia. At the time Sampson was facing various allegations of unfair treatment and discrimination towards teammate Eniola Aluko. Aluko stated, "For the most together team in the world tonight's "message" only shows a level of disrespect that represents division and selfish action" and later spotlighted the lack of diversity in English women's football. Sampson was fired the day after the Russia game but later won a "significant" settlement when he brought an unfair dismissal case against The FA. In June 2020, against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, Parris changed her mind about the situation and apologised to Aluko in an open letter. She called the celebration with coach Sampson a "thoughtless action" that showed ignorance as well as a lack of empathy and understanding.

England finished at the top of Group D after being undefeated in all three matches. After England defeated France 1–0 in the quarter-final, the team was defeated 3–0 in the semi-final by eventual champion the Netherlands.

On 2 March 2019, Parris scored against the United States in a 2–2 draw at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, a tournament England won for the first time. Her six goals ranked first in 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA) and helped secure a spot at the tournament later that year.

In 2019, Parris' spot on the England roster at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was announced by David Beckham. Parris scored her first World Cup goal and England's first in the 2019 World Cup during their opening group game, a penalty in a 2–1 win over Scotland. She was named FIFA's Player of the Match. Parris also took a penalty in England's next game, the fourth consecutive World Cup match England had won a penalty in, but had it saved by Argentina goalkeeper Vanina Correa. England won 1–0. After Parris missed her second penalty in a 3–0 win over Norway in the quarter-final, England manager Phil Neville added: "She's missed two penalties and they have both been really good saves. She'll take the next one. She is our best penalty taker." However, when England were awarded yet another penalty in their 2–1 semi-final defeat by the United States, Neville demoted Parris from penalty-taking duties in favour of the captain Steph Houghton. Houghton's poorly-struck penalty was saved and England went on to finish the tournament in fourth place. On 29 August, Parris revived her penalty form by rescuing a 3–3 draw against Belgium in an international friendly. This was followed, five days later, by an assist for Georgia Stanway's opener in a 2–1 defeat to Norway.

In June 2022 Parris was included in the England squad which won the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

Parris was allotted 196 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.

### Great Britain

On 27 May 2021, Parris was called up for her first Olympic Games, being selected for the Great Britain team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Parris scored in a pre-tournament friendly against New Zealand, with the match ending 3–0. She appeared in all four of Great Britain's tournament games.

## Career statistics

### Club

### International

#### International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

## Honours

Manchester City

- FA Women's Super League: 2016
- FA Women's Cup: 2016–17, 2018–19
- FA WSL Cup: 2016, 2018–19

Olympique Lyonnais

- Division 1 Féminine: 2019–20
- Coupe de France: 2019–20
- Trophée des Championnes: 2019
- UEFA Women's Champions League: 2019–20

Manchester United

- Women's FA Cup runner-up: 2022–23

England

- UEFA Women's Championship: 2022
- SheBelieves Cup: 2019
- Arnold Clark Cup: 2022

Individual

- FWA Women's Footballer of the Year: 2019
- Freedom of the City of London (announced 1 August 2022)
- Women's Super League: all-time leading scorer from 2018 to 2020

## Style of play

As a youth, Parris looked up to Arsenal and Scotland international, Julie Fleeting, who was known for scoring goals. Described by teammates as "down to earth" with "exceptional gifts framed by a fierce determination and a maturity", Parris is known for her wit, ability to learn quickly, and fast-moving feet.

Former England manager Phil Neville noted in 2019 that Parris is "world class". The Telegraph described her as "an exhilarating footballer, a pain to face on the pitch" and her style of play as "fast and clinical".

Gaffer described her greatest attribute as foresight and credited her for her "grounded, thoughtful and hungry" leadership qualities. Her sister, boxer Natasha Jonas, noted, "She will always try her best and give 100 percent. She will always come off that pitch with nothing left to give, so whatever happens you've just got to be proud of that."

## Personal life

Parris is a younger sister of boxer Natasha Jonas. Her first name is sometimes shortened to "Keets". She is a practising Catholic and a former altar girl.

In 2020, Parris founded the NP17 Football Academy, which offers sports qualifications to students in Liverpool. She noted, "That community gave me life and gave me an opportunity – that's what I want to do for these girls. I want to give them an opportunity to be successful in whatever they choose. Within inner city areas, there's always good and bad. You've got to be in and around the right people." The academy, based at the City of Liverpool College, is supported by international sportswear company Puma, which donates sports equipment. Other partners include the Liverpool City Council and the City of Liverpool College.

The same year, Parris worked with England's The Football Association (FA) and seven fellow high-profile footballers, including Harry Kane and Tyrone Mings, to form a panel focused on increasing the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people at senior levels within football. The expert panel "will be consulted over the development of the FA’s Leadership Diversity Code".

Parris is sponsored by multi-national finance company Visa and Puma. In June 2019, she was featured in a promotional video for Visa and the 2019 World Cup. Parris has been featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series since FIFA 17, a year after women players were included in the game for the first time.

In June 2019, a large mural of Parris was unveiled on Liverpool's London Road. The same year, a Parris mural by Honduran artist Javier Espinal and local youth was unveiled at the Metropolitan Methodist Centre in Toxteth.

## See also

- List of UEFA Women's Championship goalscorers
- List of England women's international footballers
- List of FA WSL hat-tricks

English professional footballer (born 1994)

England women's under-23 international footballers

Expatriate women's footballers in France

UEFA Women's Championship-winning players