By Beth Landman 6/05/12 2:00pm

As Seen in SCENE

Julian Niccolini is ready to take on the downtown crowd

Julian Niccolini’s Next Season

Enter the Four Seasons restaurant on East 52nd Street, and you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Soaring ceilings, chain metal curtains, a tapestry by Picasso and that dramatic pool haven’t evolved since the Mad Men era, when the space, designed by Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe, first awed diners.

There is one significant change, however. In place of the previous low-key owners, a puckish Julian Niccolini and his partner Alex von Bidder have overseen the grand restaurant since they purchased it with Edgar Bronfman in 1995. Tuscan born Niccolini has the gift of gab and breathes life into the elegant room as he works it masterfully, from table to table, speaking with irreverence and routinely playing pranks on his regulars. Now, after 17 years of honing his skill charming the Midtown power set, Read More

By Amanda Cormier 5/31/12 4:15pm

Concerts

15 Photos

Michelle Williams and Lauren Bush Lauren

Philanthropy, Fashion and Canvas (But No Nick Cannon) at the Million Meals Concert for FEED

An exuberant-though-sleep-deprived Michelle Williams presided over the festivities last night at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, where Clarins sponsored a “Million Meals Concert” to benefit FEED, and their goal of providing one million school meals to children in need.

Williams was filling in for Nick Cannon, who at the last minute was unable to fill his role as emcee (yet Tweeted a photo of his and Mariah Carey’s toddler son, Roc, “big pimpin in Italy!” on Tuesday afternoon). Williams told The Observer that her Memorial Day weekend took her from Atlantic City (for Beyonce’s Big Post-Partum Concert) to Atlanta, where she got the call.

“So I went from Atlantic City, to Atlanta, to here today, hosting, performing, run-throughs, wardrobe fittings. Washed my hair today…hotel shampoo’s good, you should use it!” she said, adding, “That was a lack-of-sleep comment.” Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 5/30/12 11:33am

the eight-day week

Elmo

To Do: Puppet Regime

The whole Sesame Street gang will be at Cipriani tonight: Elmo, whose pronoun confusion makes us want to throttle, not tickle him; Big Bird, dressed in spring-ready yellow; Oscar, whose dry, curmudgeonly wit would make him a hit on the dinner-party circuit. The puppets are joining together to honor Bill Clinton at the Sesame Workshop’s anniversary Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 5/30/12 9:00am

the eight-day week

Bill Clinton (Getty Images)

To Do Wednesday: Sax and the City

We suppose we’re stuck in the city for a couple more days (now that we’ve opened the house, all week is spent calculating which invitees would confer the most social capital!). Maybe we’ll find some potential house guests at tonight’s concert for the FEED Foundation. Put on by Clarins, the evening is to feature an Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 5/04/12 12:29pm

Party Report

JULIAN BOND: A Human Rights Icon Gala Celebration

Robin Roberts Could Probably Pull Off Whoopi’s Weird Bond Gala Outfit, But She Shouldn’t Try

The Observer begrudgingly traipsed back to the Plaza Ballroom for the umpteenth Wednesday night for yet another gala. This time around it was to honor civil rights pioneer and former chairman of the NAACP Julian Bond. We knew that honorary chairman of the affair, Bill Clinton, was too busy saving the world to attend, but a list of enticing notables was expected. How often to you get to have a Tanqueray and tonic with Wanda Sykes? Read More