Venetian Dinner Courtesy of Gigi Vianello Tonight at Four Seasons

If there's a more stunning restaurant in New York than the Four Seasons, you tell me what it is. It may be a forbidding, corporate monolith from the outside, but once you mount those stairs to the sweeping, Philip Johnson-designed playpen of the rich and powerful, it's magic. Open since 1959, there's nothing old about it -- except that it's old school in the best sense. The classy Julian Niccolini, one of the owners, extends a warm welcome to celebrities and nobodies (as long as you're wearing a jacket). While it's booked day and night, more kids (that means you under-40 people) should take the financial leap, and not just because you're jumping into history. The food is great, and will be something even more special tonight. Niccolini has flown in Gigi Vianello, the madcap, unofficial mayor of Venice and genius behind the restaurant Al Mascaron. Yesterday I got to partake of Gigi's Venetian menu, featuring his renditions of granseola (crab salad), canestrelli (ultrafresh bay scallops with tomato), risotto with asparagus, and fegato alla Veneziana (calf's liver with onions). Spectacular Italian wines matched each course, including one of the most distinctive Italian sauvignon blanc's I've ever tried, Terlano Quarz from Alto Adige. Just don't get the Four Seasons confused with the hotel. The two have nothing in common. The Four Seasons Restaurant, 99 E. 52nd St., (212) 754-9494. Tonight's Venetian dinner is $200.