Four Twenty Five
Four Twenty Five is a contemporary, elevated restaurant from Chef Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. This restaurant was open on Christmas Day, and it was on our list for a while. They offered a tasting menu which mostly resembled items off their normal menu. The day prior, I was very easily able to book reservations without any issues for 2 at 4 PM. We arrived about 15 minutes early, and they had us wait in the bar area while they prepared our table.
Ambiance & Service
We were escorted to the second floor of the restaurant where the main dining room was situated. The tables are close to each other, but not uncomfortably so. The ambiance overall felt very spacious because of how tall the ceilings were.
The service was very helpful and clean. They were quick to clean up after each of our courses
Food
The 3-course tasting menu was $198 per person, and it includes an extra amuse bouche.
The complimentary Bread came with seeded sourdough and seeded rye along with cultured butter from Vermont. The bread tasted pretty good, albeit, not the best I’ve had. It was definitely very nutty as indicated by the seeded aspects.
The glass of Chardonnay ‘Les Clous’ ($45) came from Pierre Boisson, Auxey-Duresses, Burgundy, France 2022. This was a surprisingly very delicious chardonnay. It was very smooth and buttery, but with some interesting, complex notes. It was a very apparent yellow color with some earthy and minerality notes to it. It paired good with my foie gras terrine.
The Amuse Bouche was an Egg Toast, which consisted of Petrossian, Jean George select caviar and herbs. This is a luxurious, classic Jean George recipe. Between the 2 thinly sliced toasts was a gooey egg yolk that was cooked perfectly. It was not super fluid like a poached egg, but more cooked such that the egg yolk would not leak profusely. The caviar added a nice saltiness to it, and the fresh dill added some earthiness to counter the richness of this snack.
For the first course, I got the Duck pate & Foie Gras Terrine, which came with blood orange marmalade and cranberry-pecan sourdough. Everything about this was quite tasty. The foie gras and pate was meaty and creamy with mild flavors. The marmalade was a good balance to the irony forward-tastes of the pate.
My partner ordered the Octopus & Squid a la Plancha, which came with kohlrabi slaw, cashew, and romesco sauce. We were both surprised by how large this dish was, as they gave 2 octopus legs. The legs were cooked nicely, though not the best I’ve had. They were tender and bouncy and not overcooked. The squid was crunchy and also pretty good. The romesco sauce was a bit peppery for my partner, so be aware if you’re susceptible to heat.
The glass of Pinot Noir ‘Nuits-Saint-Georges’ ($45) came from Domaine Jean Chauvenet, Burgundy, France 2020. This was a very surprising dark-red pinot noir. It was very succulent and red fruit forward in both taste and smells. The wine was earthy and structured, with very robust tannins and rich soil notes. It was quite complex, and it was very enjoyable to drink.
For the entree, I got the Charred Marinated Jurgielewicz Duck Breast, which came with caraflex cabbage, thai salad, and chili-lime broth. The cabbage was very tender and nicely cooked. The duck was tender, and the skin was not crisped. I think the Thai salad flavors were fairly mild, and so was the chili-lime broth. There was one possible miss on this dish, and that it was the chili-lime broth. It needs to be a bit thicker, so that I can scoop some of the duck with it. Otherwise, it just falls off like water.
My partner ordered the Seared Wagyu Beef Tenderloin, which came with broccoli roasted with pistachio crumbs, aromatic beef jus, and aged balsamic vinegar. The wagyu beef tenderloin was very tender and juicy. The one caveat was that this was seasoned too much with salt, so it was a bit difficult to eat. The potato sticks helped neutralize the saltiness, but it wasn’t enough. The broccoli was also decent.
On the side, they gave these Hashed Brown Potato Sticks. This was probably the best part of the tenderloin dish because the potato sticks were perfectly fried and seasoned. They were super crispy and evenly sized.
The Mont Blanc dessert came with chestnut cream, chocolate cake, kumquat marmalade, and pomegranate hibiscus sorbet. This was a mix of many flavors, and I can’t say that it was a good mix. All the ingredients tasted good by themselves, but combined, it was just a bit messy for me flavor wise. You got sweetness from different fruits and chocolate and then mix in the tartness from the hibiscus sorbet.
My partner got the the Apple Confit, which came with speculoos cookie, gavotte tuile, apple butter, cinnamon, and calvados ice cream. This basically tasted like an apple pie, so it wasn’t anything special.
Lastly, they gave us some fun bites, which included cream-sickle macarons and gingerbread marshmallow.
Overall Impression
Four Twenty Five was an overall decent New American fine-dining restaurant. The food was generally pretty good, though depending what you ordered, there were some misses on seasoning and ideations. Because it’s easy to get reservations and if you wanted to celebrate something, this is actually an easy fine-dining restaurant to get a reservation.
Yelp & Google Jabs
Christmas lunch prefix menu meal: 4 of us had various dishes (Octopus, fluke tartare, Duck, Squash Pasta, pork chops). Most were ok to good. Sauces were to tangy or too salty. Disappointed considering its Jean George brand.
We were not disappointed, but after dining in other Jean Georges restaurants (like Jojo), you have to temper expectations when a famous chef name is attached to the restaurant.
Near perfection for high end dining. Beautiful setting after you take the elegant staircase to the second floor. The service is near perfection. Our waitress was down to earth and knew the menu.
For some Yelpers, this restaurant has hit the marks for them. For those that have tried many restaurants already in NYC, this restaurant is far from perfection when it comes to food and service. Our waitress was stellar in serving us, but the timing for some parts were a little lagged for whatever reason. The food hasn’t hit all the marks that I expect out of these prices. The menu isn’t really that innovative and creative, and the ideation and cooking can continue to use some improvements.
Revisions
- Dec 25, 2025 - Initial revision.