The Chef's Counter at FOUR — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

I'm a Borough Kid following good eats wherever they may be found. Four's Chef Counter wasn't on my list and I hadn't heard of it before this Spring. A friend of mine invited me to join in on a dinner months in advance as it was on her radar and she knew it would be a moderately tough resy, especially considering there were only ten (10) seats per seating. The planets aligned and we were able to get spot that accommodated our group!

We did the tasting and there's no way I could do justice to each of the ~14 courses presented to us. I'll just take this space to say that were were all satisfied with the food (that was the first question from all of my friends when they saw the pics on my other social media platforms). The next thing I want to address is the spiciness of some of the dishes. Some reviewers felt that the spices overpowered some of the dishes, but our group felt they were bold and courageous moves. We didn't feel the spices overpowered any of the dishes, even the ones that had a "kick" (peppery taste). We actually told the chefs that we appreciated the fact that they didn't diminish the dishes by making them more bland.

Beyond that, the staff was extremely (but not obtrusively) attentive. I felt like POTUS in there (not that I know anything about what it feels like to be POTUS). The host was very knowledgeable on their wine list (which was EXTENSIVE). I'd also like to give a shoutout to Chef Matt who had a subtle but great sense of humor. I asked him where they sourced their literal plates from. He told me that was "Classified G14" to which my crew died laughing because I'm usually the guy saying stuff like that but in an instance of sheer coincidence I was getting a taste of my own medicine. The exchange was hilarious in the moment.

The crew works well as a team. They engaged when they got a chance. Seeing the activity in the open kitchen was great. The food never lacked in flavor. It's expensive (especially when I added the Italian Truffle option and a few bottles of wine) but do yourself a favor and check it out, even if just for a special date night or celebration. You won't be disappointed (even if you're a...

I rarely write reviews but I’m compelled to write one about this restaurant. An early reviewer, Joseph M. could not be more wrong. I’m sorry but haters are always gonna hate. I watched my food being cooked and there was NO cross contamination. The portions are TASTINGS and so are small. Yet by the sixth course, we were stuffed and had to push through to get to the end. We did the wine pairing with the courses. My favorite courses were the char sui, the arepa, arctic char with chorizo on top, and (I normally dislike falafel but) the falafel with crab was AMAZING! For dessert we had a banana crème pie with avocado ice cream. Who would have known that combo could be so tasty??? We did the wine pairing, which was delicious, and went great with the food. This is one of the top restaurants I have ever eaten at, including restaurants in Roslyn and NYC. We were so stuffed when we left the restaurant, we had to be rolled out the door. I have no idea why anyone would give this restaurant 1 star, except that maybe the reviewer is an entitled millennial with a chip on his shoulder or perhaps he owns a competing restaurant. Great experience! I would go again for another...

I really wanted to love this place, but I left extremely disappointed. FOUR presents itself as high end fine dining with a tasting menu at a hefty price point, but the experience fell far short of expectations.

The most glaring letdown was the A5 Wagyu. This is supposed to be the pinnacle of beef; rich, decadent, and melt in your mouth when prepared correctly. Instead, what I was served was almost entirely fat with no balance of texture or flavor. It felt more like an afterthought than the showcase item it should have been. For a restaurant charging these prices, that’s inexcusable.

The rest of the tasting leaned heavily on finger foods. That’s not necessarily bad, but for a restaurant striving for refined presentation, the absence of something as simple as hand wipes was baffling. Eating with your hands is fine, but guests shouldn’t be left looking for a way to clean up between courses.

I came in with high hopes as a passionate foodie, but the gap between the concept and the execution here is enormous. For the money, there are far better fine dining experiences on Long Island and...