New Isay Weinfeld-designed Four Seasons won’t resemble the historic restaurant at all

The 21st century incarnation of the iconic Four Seasons restaurant set to open at 280 Park Avenue will bear no resemblance to the original, beyond the famous name and the sign that fronted the “Mad Men”-era power lunch spot in the Seagram Building, according to the restaurant’s co-owner, Julian Niccolini. The New York Post reports that the team behind the “new” Four Seasons–Niccolini and partner Alex von Bidder, the Bronfman family, landlord Steve Roth of Vornado and representatives of landlord SL Green Realty–approved the new restaurant’s design, by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, last Friday.

The restaurant will feature 1950s-style furniture custom-designed for the space as well as accents like marble, terrazzo floors, warm woods, crystal and gold. “Even though it is designed by a man, it has a femininity to it that I think women will like even more than men,” Niccolini said. “It will be like 1959 all over again.”

The original restaurant, with interiors designed by the late Pritzker Prize-winner Philip Johnson, closed in July after Seagram Building landlord Aby Rosen didn’t renew the restaurant’s lease; as 6sqft reported, an auction of the beloved establishment’s modernist furnishings and other items was held last summer.

The new 150-seat restaurant will have 18-foot ceilings and a glamorous bar accessible via stairs leading up to, and down from, a catwalk. “It’s like a fashion show. It’s very exciting,” said Niccolini. There will also be private dining rooms for large and small parties upstairs. Construction of the new restaurant will cost over $20 million–four times what the old space cost to build in 1959, according to the Post; a holiday 2017 opening is planned.

[Via NYP]

RELATED:

• Beyond the Four Seasons: Aby Rosen Talks Maintenance and Costs at the Seagram Building
• The Four Seasons: An Iconic Interior Landmark Faces an Uncertain Future
• Get a Peek at the Modernist Treasures Headed for the Four Seasons Restaurant Auction
• Four Seasons Renovation Plans Shot Down by Landmarks Preservation Commission

Photo via Le Travelist