More Than 10 Years Later, The Four Horsemen Never Stops Tending to Its Garden
Published:
If you were to find yourself on Williamsburg’s Grand Street at 4 p.m. on a random Wednesday, you’d be met with a large line for a small storefront. You may wonder what the hot, new spot on the block is, but upon closer look, you’ll remember it’s The Four Horsemen. More than a decade later, the Brooklyn staple continues to maintain the energy (and attention) of a restaurant that’s just getting started.
Managing director Amanda McMillan likens this longevity to that of a garden.
“Good restaurants are gardens … they require tending,” says McMillan. “They grow, they change, they evolve, but they are living beings. We are constant tinkerers. Always thinking, how could this be better?”
This tinkering is a part of what makes The Four Horseman so outstanding.
And it’s been recognized as such. The Four Horsemen is a 2026 James Beard Outstanding Restaurant finalist, an accolade that follows a Michelin star and a 2022 James Beard win for Outstanding Wine Bar.
Alongside a 700-SKU wine list, chef Nick Curtola creates an eclectic, evolving menu where you may find the likes of Berkshire pork chop with pickled strawberries and their signature oeuf mayonnaise with squid ink and osetra caviar. Since opening The Four Horsemen in 2015, the group has also opened Nightmoves and I Cavallini.
At each of their establishments, no detail is overlooked. The water is triple filtered at The Four Horsemen. It’s a fine-dining-level attention to detail, juxtaposed by an electric dining room that’s reminiscent of an amber-lit house party. And it’s a balance that the team carefully weighs on a continuous basis.
McMillan says, “We’re always trying to see how nice we can make it and how fun we can make it at the same time. We can’t have it be so boisterous that you’re sitting at a sticky table, but we also don’t want it to be so precise and surgical that it feels austere.”
The team also tinkers with music as a large part of what sets the tone at The Four Horsemen — unsurprisingly, given LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is a cofounder. The walls are clad with high-quality, vintage Acoustic Research AR LST-2 speakers, and the tunes are just loud enough to create a buzz without being overbearing.
“We started with a library of music that was handpicked by James and Justin [Chearno] and the other partners. We now have a whole community of DJs and people that work at record stores that make playlists for us.”
Beyond just music, The Four Horsemen crowdsources from its community wherever possible: “We’ve had various friends of the house make ceramics for us over the years. My friend Addie makes our soap that we use,” says McMillan.
That community has been there for The Four Horsemen through highs and lows. It wasn’t always stars and awards for the team, who had a quiet four years before gaining any real recognition — and when it finally came, so did COVID shortly after. Four years later, they unexpectedly lost their founding partner and wine director Justin Chearno.
McMillan cares deeply for the guests who have stayed close all these years later. “I know our neighborhood friends who came by and bought bottles of wine from us during the pandemic and that girl who used to date Rachel that was our server when we first opened. She’s still in the neighborhood and she comes by sometimes.”
The James Beard nomination for Outstanding Restaurant is a particularly high moment for the team, representing more than 10 years in the making and the people behind it.
“To me, it speaks to our tenure,” says McMillan. “We’ve been doing this a long time. And I think about all the different people who have contributed … and what they brought to the table. It’s a shared accomplishment.”
Whether the restaurant wins the award, McMillan says that what really matters is that the team is continuing to push boundaries and grow together.
“Boredom is the ultimate loss,” she says. “Fortunately, we haven’t gotten bored yet.”
When asked about what the next 10 years will look like for The Four Horsemen, McMillan returns to her metaphorical garden. “Longevity is never stopping with the tinkering, never stop tending to the garden. As soon as we’re done, as soon we feel like there’s nothing left to do, then the restaurant’s dead.”
The Four Horsemen is open daily for dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. and serves lunch on Fridays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
