Yes, it\u2019s true, the Picasso curtain, Le Tricorne,\u00a0is no longer hanging at The Four Seasons restaurant. \u00a0And, it’s also true that The Four Seasons \u00a0 will no longer be at the beautiful space\u00a0in the Seagram Building, their lease was not renewed.\u00a0 Thankfully, the interior of the restaurant, along with the building, now has landmark status\u00a0so the space\u00a0with the soaring ceilings and the beaded curtains will remain.<\/p>\n Our family was in the hospitality business when The Four Seasons was \u201cthe\u201d restaurant to go to.\u00a0 We purposely visited the top restaurants in the City to learn and to teach our children who were in the business\u2026lessons on the success of great restaurants and to \u00a0observe how it all came together.<\/p>\n And it certainly did at The Four Seasons. The food was lovely, but it was the whole experience that made it so special.\u00a0 The mood was set when first entering the lobby of the Seagram Building and then \u00a0walking up the stairs, past the Picasso,\u00a0sitting in the Pool Room surrounded by seasonal gorgeous flowers, plants and yes, trees, combined with the\u00a0unassuming service, the quiet but lively conversations, and the buzz, it\u00a0was theater!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our pleasure, sir \u00a0or \u00a0I’ll have dessert with my dessert!<\/strong><\/p>\n A family tradition started at The Four Seasons by my husband. \u00a0It was about the desserts. \u00a0 Everyone would make their choice and then he would say to the waiter, “Please bring us every other dessert on the menu.”\u00a0\u00a0 The tradition was to take a taste and pass it along and then talk about the presentation, our favorites\u00a0 \u00a0and why.\u00a0 And yes, notes were taken. \u00a0Those polished \u00a0waiters would not blink an eye and just \u00a0smile and say, \u201cOf course, sir\u201d<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t learn about the vanishing souffl\u00e9 from my \u00a0then future son-in-law until a few years later. He had ordered one of his favorite desserts \u2013 a chocolate souffl\u00e9. (At The Four Seasons \u00a0a souffl\u00e9 had to be ordered at the same time as the main course to allow the chef to prepare it to perfection).<\/p>\n As was our tradition, the desserts arrived – all of them! His\u00a0souffl\u00e9\u00a0was\u00a0placed before him.\u00a0\u00a0 He said he was in awe as he put his spoon into that deep chocolate delight for the first time. \u00a0 He took another spoonful and then heard the word, “Pass”. He looked around a little confused. He wasn\u2019t quite sure what to do, as he saw the desserts on the move, all he wanted to say was, \u00a0 \u00a0“Sorry, this is mine!” \u00a0But off it went.<\/p>\n He told me that his eyes followed that chocolate wonder as it moved around the table. \u00a0 \u00a0When it finally arrived back in front of him, he stared into the \u00a0almost \u00a0empty cup. He looked at my daughter with quizzical eyes saying as he showed her the few remaining crumbs, “What just happened?”\u00a0\u00a0We had forgotten to tell him about our tradition.\u00a0 Whoops!<\/p>\n And now, what?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Picasso is hanging grandly at the New York Historical Society,\u00a0another restaurant will take over the glorious space, and The Four Seasons is opening in the fall at a new location just down the block.\u00a0 With\u00a0any good luck, chocolate souffl\u00e9\u00a0will be on the menu – still needing to be ordered at the beginning of the meal so that it can be prepared to its wonderful and perfect deliciousness.\u00a0 Perhaps being shared and perhaps not!<\/p>\n Although, I haven’t\u00a0\u00a0been to The Four Seasons in many years, it remains one of my favorite restaurants for so many reasons, but mainly because of the happy memories of good times and laughter shared with my family. None of our operations were even close to the level of The Four Seasons but one of the lessons\u00a0 learned there was the importance and impact of a\u00a0\u00a0gracious wait staff\u00a0\u00a0to the dining experience \u2026no matter what was requested.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s to The Four Seasons at the Seagram Building<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 Kay’s Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n Important to know<\/strong>:<\/p>\n The Picasso curtain measures 19 x 20 feet\u00a0and\u00a0was designed by him for a ballet, Le Tricorne or the Three Cornered Hat in 1919 for the Ballets Russes in Paris \u00a0It was chosen to hang in the restaurant\u00a0\u00a0by Philip Johnson, the designer of The Four Seasons in 1959. \u00a0 It did not receive landmark status as did the restaurant and the building\u00a0\u00a0because \u00a0it was not a\u00a0physical part of the architecture. \u00a0The landlord had made a decision to remove the work in order to repair the wall behind it, he said. \u00a0There was great \u00a0controversy about \u00a0moving the \u00a0work not just because\u00a0\u00a0 of its significance to the restaurant but also \u00a0due to its delicacy and age. After the \u00a0courts stepped in to delay its removal, the work\u00a0\u00a0was finally awarded to the New York Historical Society\u00a0where it now hangs for all to see.\u00a0\u00a0 There is an interesting video on the Historical Society’s website\u00a0\u00a0showing the painstaking installation process and another in the New York Times on the removal of the delicate artwork prior to its installation at the Historical Society \u00a0http:\/\/www.nyhistory.org\/exhibitions\/picassos-le-tricorne<\/a><\/p>\n There are many articles about the restaurant and especially about Le Tricorne on the internet. \u00a0An article appearing in Vanity Fair has an interesting take\u00a0\u00a0especially\u00a0about the controversy.<\/p>\n .http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/culture\/art\/2014\/02\/Picasso-four-seasons<\/a><\/p>\n Good to know<\/strong>: There are rumors that \u00a0a book is to be published and a TV special about the restaurant and the Picasso in the fall.<\/p>\n Photos courtesy of The Four Seasons and\u00a0LA Times\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Disclaimer: \u00a0I try for correct info on Kay\u2019s Notes and my posts \u00a0but no\u00a0guarantees people<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OR HERE TODAY-GONE TOMORROW – OR MAYBE NOT! Yes, it\u2019s true, the Picasso curtain, Le Tricorne,\u00a0is no longer hanging at The Four Seasons restaurant. \u00a0And, it’s also true that The Four Seasons \u00a0 will no longer be at the beautiful space\u00a0in the Seagram Building, their lease was not renewed.\u00a0 Thankfully, the interior of the … Continue reading “The Four Seasons, Le Tricorne and the Vanishing Souffl\u00e9”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restaurants"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7svLB-9J","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaysnycways.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Fall](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kaysnycways.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/4-seasons-e1469113322305.png?ssl=1\")
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