WHO HAS TIME FOR A POWER LUNCH? THE REAL BUSINESS HAPPENS AT 4 P.M. 'POWER HOUR.'

THE SUN is pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows when the bar begins to fill with bespoke suits on a Tuesday in August at Four Twenty Five. The new restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten is on the first floor of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, beneath the offices of financial giant Citadel Securities. And the traders are thirsty.

- JANE THIER

This might sound like a familiar ritual: happy hour. But the trappings of that timeworn American workplace tradition-5-to-7 p.m. drink specials, plates of chicken wings, and an "everyone's welcome" vibe are nowhere to be found at Four Twenty-Five. Here, the mostly male finance industry crowd quaffs $25 olive-oil-washed martinis and munches on sea urchin crostini with yuzu and serrano chilies. There are no two-for-one drink deals or discounted bar snacks. Also: It's only 4:15.

This is not happy hour, Vongerichten tells Fortune. This is Power Hour.

Vongerichten has started opening the venue earlier to accommodate this high-powered afternoon bar rush-which, he says, is more than making up for the decline of the Mad Men-style booze-soaked power lunch.

"It's all about creating a buzz-a scene with delicious cocktails and snacks," Vongerichten says. That buzz is more like a roar at Four Twenty-Five, where it's hard to find a seat at the bar after the markets close at 4 p.m.

A similar scene unfolds pre-5 p.m. at Le Pavillon, chef Daniel Boulud's airy outpost across the street from Grand Central Terminal, and beneath the offices of real estate giant SL Green, the Carlyle Group, and TD Securities.

Anthony Diamandakis, the co-head of Citi's global asset managers franchise, takes a $27 bite of jamón Iberico and gestures with his glass of wine across the crowded sun-drenched atrium at Le Pav (as its regulars call it). "He runs a private equity group," he says, pointing at one friend, and then another: "He's an M&A banker at Citi."

The after-work drink rush has shifted in the Financial District, too, where the ritzy Bar Room at the Beekman Hotel is packed by 4:30 p.m. "Drinks definitely start earlier and end earlier since COVID," notes bartender Pape Konte.