Since 1977, Julian Niccolini, the mischievous co-owner of the Four Seasons Restaurant, has charmed presidents (Bill Clinton, both George Bushes), royalty (Prince Harry, Princess Diana), rock stars (Bono, Elton John, Aretha Franklin) and legends of all stripes (Anna Wintour, Barbara Walters, Warren Buffett) as resident bon vivant of NYC’s ultimate power-lunch spot.
Right now, however, he’s focused on Martha Stewart’s turkey. As she has most years in the past decade, the domestic doyenne has a Thanksgiving reservation at the restaurant. (Other boldfacers who plan to break bread there on Turkey Day include fashion designers Thom Browne and Zac Posen and director Sofia Coppola.)
But if the convivial Niccolini feels any pressure about hosting the universe’s reigning empress of domesticity, he hides it well, cracking a joke about Stewart’s recent foray into online dating.
“She already put in a request — she wants a male turkey,” he says, momentarily alighting from his never-ending loop around the restaurant to a table on the balcony of the Grill Room. “She’ll get it, too. It’s going to be a big one! Or we’ll make sure we have a young, wild turkey with big breasts and nice thighs for her.”
Since opening 54 years ago, the Four Seasons has been a magnet for global elites. Niccolini is one of the few characters in town with the guts — and expertly calibrated comic timing — to dare tease them over Dover sole.
Now 60 (“But I feel like I’m 19!”), the Tuscan-born Niccolini is chock-full of memories.
“One of the nicest people who used to come to the Four Seasons was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,” he remembers. “She used to come for lunch when she was a book editor. The first time she came, the room fell totally silent” — a rare scene of star-struck diners that, he says, has never occurred since.
Another thrill was the day in 1997 when magazine editor Tina Brown brought Princess Diana to the Grill Room. “She was so kind to everyone,” Niccolini says fondly. “I think when these people show up at the Four Seasons, they feel a little intimidated and they feel they have to be nice to everyone.”
That, or they feel they have to take their clothes off: Niccolini has witnessed many a scantily clad celeb splash through the pool, which transitions from famous to infamous as the clock creeps toward midnight.
“A lot of people have gone into the pool,” he says, ticking off a list of offenders: “We did a wedding for Bethenny Frankel, and three or four half-naked guys went into the pool. A woman recently collected about $5,000 in bets to take off her clothes and jump in the pool.”
While money-magnet Buffett hasn’t (yet) taken a dip, the most successful investor of the 20th century did order a hamburger, Diet Coke and Dairy Queen ice cream to enjoy in an upstairs private room prior to a 2011 fund-raiser for President Obama that Buffett hosted at the restaurant. (Niccolini commissioned a pal in New Jersey to smuggle in the DQ.)
“But before he could get to his table [for the party], every single one of the 450 guests — including myself — wanted to take a picture with him,” Niccolini recalls. “I thought Bill Clinton was over-the-top, but Buffett was like the coming of Jesus Christ.”
Other memorable celebrity encounters that Niccolini’s overseen? George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Colin Powell (“Incredible!”); Tony Blair and George W. Bush (“They had fun — George Bush is quite a character”); Wintour plus Ralph Lauren (“Very, very elegant”).
Niccolini’s run as irreverent ringmaster is so iconic, he’s even played himself in two movies filmed at the restaurant: “Arbitrage” with Richard Gere and “Inside Man” with Denzel Washington.
“I was a natural!” he says, before adding with a wink, “Nobody else could play my part.”
Indeed, Niccolini is a legend when it comes to his devotion to the
sometimes-wacky whims of regular customers. If someone’s more in the mood for street meat than haute cuisine, he dispatches an assistant to the nearest hot dog cart.
“They can’t believe they’re eating hot dogs at the Four Seasons,” he laughs. “We don’t charge hot dog prices,” he adds. “We charge the $50 or $60 for the main-course price. After all, we made the special effort — we make sure their special requests are absolutely fulfilled.”
Another reason for the loyalty? Niccolini’s wise discretion when it comes to affairs of the heart, carefully seating certain men in a far corner of the Pool Room.
“It’s very far away and it’s very difficult for anyone to tell if you’re having lunch with your wife or with your girlfriend,” he explains. “If it’s your girlfriend and your other half shows up, [there’s] time to warn you.”
The Four Seasons, he says, still may be the only white-tablecloth restaurant in NYC where anything goes.
“After 11 p.m., no one really knows what’s happening. And that’s OK!”