Two years after the legendary Philip Johnson-designed Four Seasons restaurant closed its doors at the Seagram Building, the iconic eatery has finally reopened at impressive new premises designed by the Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld and has just won Best Reinvention in the Wallpaper* Design Awards. Situated between Madison and Park Avenues, just a few blocks away from its original location, the new restaurant is spread over two floors, occupying over 19,000 sq ft. From the Bar Room, which boasts a 20-seat sunken, gold-flecked bar and sensual teak beams overhead, to the main dining room, which teams Italian terrazzo floors with quartz bronze mirrored columns and steel fabric curtains, Weinfeld’s reinvention preserves the refined spirit of its predecessor without ever seeming literal.
The Dining Room.
Weinfeld was adamant that the new space, his first restaurant design on US soil, should strike a fresh chord. ‘From my very first meeting, I told the managing partners, Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini, that they should turn the page and have something completely different,’ he recalls. ‘Not something mimetic, but rather fresh, where any reference to the former Four Seasons would come out as subtle and not at all obvious.’ He adds, ‘that reference manifests itself in the purity of the design, the obsession with minute details, the sounds of the Four Seasons, recorded in Central Park and heard in the hallway connecting the bar to the restaurant, and finally, the choice of furnishings.’
RELATED STORY
Weinfeld has created a great cadence by juxtaposing moments of grandeur with restraint throughout the restaurant. Transitional spaces are sparsely furnished, yet clad in noble materials such as marble and limestone. The furniture, which includes Edward Wormley high stools in the bar, Jorge Zalszupin dining chairs, and new pieces that Weinfeld designed especially, hark back to another time but are still rooted in the present. Looking back while moving forward, it’s the collective sum of these parts that truly makes the restaurant sing.
As originally featured in the February 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*239)
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Four Seasons website and Isay Weinfeld’s website
ADDRESS
42 East 49th Street
New York
NY 10017
-
A celestial New York exhibition showcases Roman and Williams’ mastery of lightingLauded design studio Roman and Williams is exhibiting 100 variations of its lighting ‘family tree’ inside a historic Tribeca space
-
‘He immortalised the birth of the supermodel’: inside Dior’s career-spanning retrospective of photographer Peter LindberghOlivier Flaviano, curator and head of Paris’ La Galerie Dior, talks us through a new Peter Lindbergh retrospective, which celebrates the seminal German photographer’s longtime relationship with the French house
-
Take a bite: Laila Gohar and The Luxury Collection’s ‘Cakes & Candles’ are a sweet treat for the sensesLaila Gohar’s six cake-inspired candles draw on The Luxury Collection’s hotels around the world – where guests can enjoy matching edible confections
-
24 hours in Copenhagen: stay, bike, dine, and discover Danish designPlan your 24 hours in Copenhagen: sleepover in a former brewery, wake up with a wild swim, and immerse yourself in the home of a modernist master
-
Peter Beard’s biographer, Christopher Wallace, on writing the wild life of the quintessential Twentieth-Century ManAuthor Christopher Wallace traces the footsteps of the original playboy-artist-activist Peter Beard, travelling from Kenya, to the Serengeti, Cassis and beyond
-
Estelle Manor is a chic take on the hotel and country clubEstelle Manor, a transformed Grade II-listed house and estate in Oxfordshire, welcomes guests with Roman and Williams interiors, parasols by the pool, and a soon-to-open tepidarium
-
Maroma, A Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya opens following a major redesignOn the Yucatán Peninsula, the new-look Maroma showcases local craftsmanship and Mayan tradition with interiors led by interior architecture studio Tara Bernerd & Partners
-
A weekend in wonderful CopenhagenThe ultimate weekend in Copenhagen starts here: discover the latest openings across the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture, stay in a hotel afloat, start your day with brilliant baked goods and ski down a power-station piste
-
The Largo brings craftsmanship and creativity to PortoThe Largo is the latest hospitality offering in Portugal's second city, conceived as an elevated residence with an art programme that connects it to the city’s creative community
-
Louis Vuitton opens its summertime café in Saint-TropezThe Louis Vuitton café in Saint-Tropez combines the brilliance of Michelin-starred chef Arnaud Donckele and pastry chef Maxime Frédéric for a one-of-a-kind Mediterranean feast
-
Qantas’ Airbus A350 cabins make non-stop to Australia a dream ticketExplore Qantas’ slick new Airbus A350 cabins, designed by David Caon, including minimalist first class suites
