The Four Seasons Restaurant

"Olivia Wang, the 29-year-old restaurateur behind fast-casual hit Crop Circle and Meno near Washington Square Park, tells the New York Post that, for her next act, she’s planning to recreate storied Manhattan dining destination the Four Seasons. Wang signed a lease at luxury Midtown residential building the Centrale to start building out the space, and plans to call the spot “The Four Seasons-New American Restaurant.”" - Erika Adams

"The iconic and problematic Four Seasons Restaurant will close Tuesday, the New York Times reports, less than a year after a $40 million rebuild in a new space. The news comes after a troubled 10 months, when critics and the public called the restaurant out for still involving former partner Julian Niccolini, who pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2016. Niccolini was finally forced to resign in December. Managing partner Alex von Bidder told the Times that it’s 'hard to measure' whether Niccolini’s scandals had a negative effect on business. In the end, the investors made the decision to close, according to Von Bidder. 'We were not doing enough business to satisfy them,' he told the Times. The restaurant has over 40 investors who pulled together more than $40 million for the rebuild, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Four Seasons Restaurant was once known as a power lunch destination, frequently hosting celebrities and dignitaries like Martha Stewart and Henry Kissinger. It opened in the historic Seagram Building in 1959, becoming beloved for its seasonal fare and eventually landmarked space. In 2016, landlord Aby Rosen forced the Four Seasons out, and last August, the restaurant reopened at 42 East 49th St. It claimed at the time that phones were 'ringing off the hook,' and Stewart said she couldn’t 'wait' to go back, but its public reception was less warm. Food critics Pete Wells, Hannah Goldfield, and Adam Platt focused their reviews more on Niccolini than the food from new chef Diego Garcia. Wells said in his one-star review that despite food that’s 'better than it has been in years,' Niccolini had 'done serious damage to his power to provide' a 'sense of safety' while dining there. The restaurant closes Tuesday following lunch service." - Stefanie Tuder

"Serena Dai, editor of Eater NY: I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised by this because the world is such a garbage fire, but it was interesting to see how quickly powerful people (and a lot of media) were to embrace the return of the Four Seasons Restaurant seemingly without any caveat." - Carla Vianna

"Congratulations to all the rich and powerful folk who still feel comfortable spending exorbitant amounts of money at a restaurant owned by a man who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman — turns out the food at the Four Seasons Restaurant reboot is 'better than it has been in years,' says Times critic Pete Wells in his latest review." - Serena Dai

"After fifty-seven years in the Seagram Building, the restaurant—its reputation tarnished by an allegation of sexual abuse by one of the owners (he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault)—closed in 2016. In August, it reopened, just a few blocks away, in an eerily similar space. The food, never the establishment’s greatest draw, despite astonishingly high prices, was sad, too. An appetizer of grilled squid, served with toasted pumpkin seeds, pea shoots, and sautéed cabbage, glimmered with promise. But the biggest hit seemed still to be the Four Seasons’ most classic calling card, an off-menu tower of pale-pink cotton candy, reserved for guests celebrating special occasions. Entrées $32-$85." - Hannah Goldfield