Mike Colameco's Real Food FOUR SEASONS

The Four Seasons: Opened in 1959, and designed by architects Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson at a cost then of $4.5 million dollars (over $32 million in today's money). In that era the NYC restaurant scene was dominated by French restaurants, here the opening Chef, Albert Stockkli, was Swiss, as were the next two Chefs, spanning nearly 50 years. It was decades ahead of its time in changing the menu seasonally and in using many local American ingredients. The NYC Power Lunch was invented here in the Grill Room, while at night, The Pool Room was a magnet for "A" list celebrities, politicians, publishers, artists, bankers, movie stars, NYC movers and shakers, all seated around that gurgling white Carrara marble pool.