The Fourth
“I started with the Asparagus and Farm Egg Salad, followed by the Pink Salt Brick roasted Amish chicken which was incredible.”
“The bartender here made me a special drink for my birthday, hands down the best Manhattan I have had!!!”
“If your downtown around Union Square, stop in for a coffee, or lunch, it's a great daytime spot, very welcoming and warm.”
The Fourth
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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IN SHORT: Less trendy and less inspired than some of the city's other hotel restaurants, The Fourth is nonetheless an easy bet for simple, high quality, clean American cuisine around Union Square.
THE STORY: Much like people we all know, there are some restaurants that succeed moderately in their lives by doing a good job at the minimum required of them to get by. These restaurants have worked out a model of purposeful efficiency that seems to check off all the necessary elements of success without really looking for that ineffable quality of visionary inspiration that make them leaders in their field.
These are the types of restaurants that can be counted on to easily provide a successful, enjoyable meal, but have a hard time courting regulars who aren't sure what makes the restaurant special.
The Fourth is that type of restaurant. Dishes are executed uniformly well, particularly the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare whose radish, cucumber, and ginger vinaigrette cleanly highlights the subtle, supple flavor of the fish. It might be one of the better versions of the dish crafted in a while, but it feels lost in a menu that rambles on without any creative guiding principles. It leaves the diner with the impression that although this was a good plate of food, it could probably be found anywhere else.
One also has to wonder why the pink salt brick roasted Amish Country chicken is the restaurant's signature dish, for despite being tender and well seasoned with watercress and a chili-lime vinaigrette, there is nothing exceptional about the plate. It seems to be an ordinary achievement, less special than the demands we make of other signature chicken entrees around the city.
The Grilled NY Strip Steak with crispy fingerling potatoes, watercress, and cipollini onions is another option that is executed almost perfectly, yet lacks any kind of exciting, innovative flourish that would guide the future of cooking in New York. It is regrettable, because one might crave steak on a weekly basis, but there is no reason one would crave the steak prepared at The Fourth.
The high-ceilinged space also mirrors this sleek, parsed-down version of success, with decor and service that hit just enough interesting notes correctly to keep the place in business. The risk here, of course, is that the system may be too efficient to make up for a failure of one element. When it takes 45 minutes after the appetizer course for an entree to arrive, the pleasurable moments earlier in the meal may be forgotten, not special enough to withstand more serious scrutiny.
In a city like New York, we must ask more of our restaurants in order to push the boundaries and the discipline of the industry. It shouldn't be enough for The Fourth to appeal to the average out-of-towner staying in the hotel above. We must ask for a little controversy in our restaurants, a little passion to ignite cooking that is not vetted by a democratic panel of hotel executives, but is thoughtful and adversarial and instills in us the vivid memory only food can create.
Put another way, The Fourth is a restaurant post-gentrification. There is no authentic charm, no honest, human touch manifested in its work. It is the Starbucks of its kind – good, reliable, neutered, banal. The Fourth has played the game too safely, and when we walk out the door, it leaves us with an experience that will ultimately soon be forgotten.
I love this place, great ambiance, Sunday brunch with live jazz, entire window wall opened for outdoor dining experience, FREE drink with brunch and yummy food. Until…today
Here is why…
1. Service: I know a lot of the reviews complained abt the staff…well here's mine. The waiter we had wasn't very friendly, we wanted to get side salad greens instead of the hash that comes with entree, he got adamant quick saying "we can't because of the esthetic of the plate"…I've been here before, never was a problem. If u goto any other brunch places, doing a swap for green in lieu of watever side is pretty normal. never heard of this "esthetic of plate" excuse. We didn't get our water refilled, not even once. He should learn to be more friendly, it pays to be nice in service industry (aka tip).
2. Food: two of the dishes were eggs Benedict. now any chef would know eggs Benedicts egg is poached, and yolk runs. Here, we got our selves 4 boiled eggs. And our English muffin was black, aka burnt. I trashed half of it, cause couldn't scrape it off. this is so basic, don't understand how they can send out plate like that. need some quality check of the plate.
didn't see the manager from my previous visits, he was so attentive and sweet and fun, think he's name was Chris. he made sure things were good, we saw the current manager walking around, she wasn't friendly either, just like the wait staff.
Really hope they get better staff, really a nice spot for brunch…hate to see the space goto waste like this.
Located in Hyatt Union Square in NYC, The Fourth defies any stereotype you may have about a "hotel restaurant." The latest venture by husband-and-wife restaurateurs, Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovitzky of One Five Hospitality, The Fourth seamlessly combines the urban appeal of Union Square and the edgy ambiance of East Village with its creative New American cuisine.
Among its seasonal menu items include the Roasted Squash & Root Vegetable Salad ($18). Over a thin layer of creamy burrata, you get chunks of roasted root vegetables and squash drizzled with olive oil. The crispy quinoa chips add a nice crunch, while the watercress provides a slightly bitter tang to the dish.
My favorite appetizer – which is also perfect for sharing – is the Butternut Squash & Maitaki Mushroom Hearth Bread ($18). As the name suggests, the flatbread is baked in a heart oven to produce a perfectly thin and crispy dough. Top it off with generous amount of burrata, arugula, pumpkin seed, mushroom, and julienne butternut squash, and you get yourself one of the best tasting flatbread ever.
As for main entree, you can't go wrong with the signature Pink Salt Brick Roasted Amish Country Chicken ($24). The tender chicken breast is roasted in brick oven, thereby savoring all the juice and moisture. The chicken is also rubbed with pink salt, one of the purest salts that packs more vitamins and minerals than other types of salt. The dish comes with a side of shaved vegetables tossed in lemon vinaigrette.
The Hearth Roasted Rack of Berkshire Pork ($26) is another highlight. You get a hearty rack of lean pork glazed in savory violet mustard. Under the rack of pork is braised tuscan kale and rich puree of medjool dates. Don't be shy about picking up the bone to get the last bit of the tender meat – I sure wasn't.
For dessert, the Coffee & Cake ($12) is the perfect sampler to try something creamy, doughy, and fried. The espresso semifreddo, served in a little mug, has more of a chocolatey flavor than coffee with semi-frozen pot of cream that is topped with crumbled coffee beans and snickerdoodle cookie. Because the pumpkin cake in the middle is a bit on the dry side, be sure to complement it with the creamy espresso semifreddo. The fried apple cake, which tastes like a less dense version of apple cider doughnut, has real bits of apples and topped with raspberry coulis.
2/23/15 restaurant week. The 3 stars – mostly for the decor and appetizer and main course, the wine list and desert fell short and the service while the waiter and bus boy were sweet, it was on the slow side and the restaurant was half empty. I had:
Sunchoke soup – AMAZING – cranberry beans, parmesan, hazelnut gremolata
Winter Squash Salad – very good
Pink Salt Brick Roasted Amish Country Chicken with shaved veggies and lemon vinaigrette – this was super juicy and lovely dish but lacked finesse.
Warm Rice Pudding with passion fruit sorbet – this was I hate to say it almost tasteless.
Over all – no reason to return here save for the soup. That was kick ass!
Brunch is usually very hard to differentiate between restaurants since so many of the dishes are standardized. But this place…okay it's the same brunch food as everywhere else but it also has a nice open window wall.
4 stars for the food, -2 stars for the service. Seriously, the only reason they get an extra star is because of the food.
I'm currently staying the Hyatt at Union Square, so figured I'd try The Fourth rather than getting room service.
The food was really good. I had the pork chop and fingerling potatoes. The pork was a huge helping and very nicely accompanied. The potatoes were cooked and seasoned perfectly. I couldn't get enough.
But the service. Oh my goodness, the service. I don't think I've ever had such bad service, especially when paying $50 for a meal.
I was dining on my own, and was clearly tired, but the hostess tried to seat me in the front area which has music as loud as a nightclub. I asked to be seated somewhere quieter, and after a sigh, she took me around the to dining area. Obviously she had stopped caring at that point, because she didn't take away the second place place setting, and didn't communicate to the wait staff that I was a party of 1.
Which brings me to the wait staff. They promptly brought me a glass of water, but it then took them 10 more minutes to ask if I wanted another drink, despite trying to catch them before they left with the water pitcher. 10 minutes after that, I finally got my drink. At this point I well and truly decided on my meal and had my menu closed and was playing on my phone. 5 minutes later I managed to flag someone down and ask them if I could order. They responded with, "Well, don't you want to wait for the rest of your party?". No. It's just me. It was a kerfuffle, but they managed to take my order. The food came out relatively speedily, which was a plus, but then I realized it was because they brought me someone else's food. So 3 minutes later, I got my actual food. Luckily the food was good, because up until then I was just upset.
Once I finished eating, I put my knife and fork together, and started timing. A laughable 20 minutes later, during which I caught 3 waiters' eyes, as well as the Manager (I was maybe 15 feet from the Manager's station), I finally gave up and walked up to the four of them standing there to ask for my bill. To which their response was "Oh, you're done?" No, I was just sitting alone in a restaurant like an idiot with a clean plate for the hell of it. Then they had the nerve to offer me dessert. Finally got my bill, wrote my room number on it, then had to find someone else to give it back to – they'd all scattered like cockroaches when you turn the lights on.
Needless to say, I won't be returning. Which is a serious shame, since I'm staying in the hotel for the next 8 weeks.
I expected more. Food was good, just not the W-O-W that I wanted. Everything was beautifully presented and the space is pretty neat, spacious (lots of wasted space) but cool to look at.
Sunday night restaurant week dinner here, I expected the place to be packed! There were maybe 4 tables! I was shocked.
The heirloom tomato salad was fresh and plentiful with perfectly ripe tomatoes. I guess I can't expect much more here, but I did.
The housemade torchio pasta dish was my favorite part of the meal with the pancetta and corn it was delicious.
The dessert that I had was called quatrieme coffee pot de creme. It was quite delicious but I really couldn't describe it. If you like coffee and whipped creme, you'd like it.
I just don't think the quality of this restaurant lives up to it's price. The service was excellent, BUT it could've had to do with the fact that no one was there? Unfortunately I won't be telling anyone to run to come here.
A little bit pricey, but cocktails are decent (not super strong, but nice balance of flavors).
Service was friendly, but not all that attentive when we wanted to order and FAR too attentive when we were talking (and having an intimate conversation)
I did order a dessert at the bar and asked for a recommendation. The bartender said he liked the coffee pot de creme, so that's what I got. It was delicious! There was mascarpone mousse, coffee crumble (really tasty), amaretto gelato and coffee foam. An excellent combination of flavors.
Bathrooms are downstairs and are clean.