Four Seas

Bruce Ho’s Four Seas
April 30, 1964–1998
Chinese

Ownership:

Bruce Ho

Executive Chef:

Lau Wai (through 1998)

Stanley Seid (1964–?)

Location:

116 East 57th Street

Literature:

Aviva Drescher, Leggy Blonde: A Memoir (2014):

“They brought me Chinese food from my favorite restaurant, Bruce Ho’s Four Seas on Fifty-seventh Street between Park and Lexington (now a Starbucks)” (Gallery Books, 2014: 20-21).

Publications:

“Obituary: Bruce Ho.” NYTimes.com, September 12, 2014.

Spiller, Harley. “Restauranteur Bruce Ho, Part II.” Flavor & Fortune 10, 1 (Spring 2003): 25-28, 35. [Republished with Part I in Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch, eds., Gastropolis: Food and New York City (2010) as part of a longer essay, “Chow Fun City: Three Centuries of Chinese Cuisine in New York City.]

Spiller, Harley. “Restauranteur Bruce Ho, Part I.” Flavor & Fortune 9, 4 (Winter 2002): 11, 12, 27.

Lape, Bob. “Four Seas Sails On and On: A Beacon of Cantonese Fare.” Crain’s New York Business, January 22, 1995.

Canaday, John. “Restaurant Reviews.” New York Times, October 3, 1975: 29.

Notable Guests:

Burt Bacharach (Newspaperman)

Abe Beame (Former Mayor of New York City)

Angie Dickinson (Actress)

Aviva Drescher (Television Personality)

Alan King (Comedian & Actor)

Sidney Poitier (Actor)

Ginger Rogers (Dancer)

Donald Trump (Businessman & 45th President of the United States)

Notes:

Owner Bruce Ho’s wife Polly worked for tiki tycoon Trader Vic from 1954 through the mid-1980s and carried her cocktail-mixing experience over to the Four Seas, as well as the restaurant’s first cook, Trader Vic alum Stanley Seid. (1)

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The restaurant’s second cook, Lau Wai, was formerly the head chef at Ruby Foo’s and continued with the Four Seas until it closed in 1998. (2)

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Ho opened a second Four Seas in Manhasset, Long Island.

(1) Spiller, 2003.
(2) Spiller, 2003.

Cover photo: Matchbook. Ebay. Accessed April 2, 2020. (Edited by NYCRA, April 7, 2020).