The End Is in Sight for the Fountain at the Four Seasons

After 31 years, the Fountain will serve its final dinner service on Saturday, December 27.The Four Seasons hotel, where the restaurant makes its home, announced back in January that it would be leaving its longtime Logan Square location to take up residence in the upper levels of the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center tower at 18th and Arch.

An end date for the hotel's run on the Parkway has not yet been released, but chef de cuisine William DiStefano told Philly.com that restaurant management felt it would be more dignified "to give the Fountain its own designated departure time."

Given the service it provides for the hotel, the restaurant will not shut down operations entirely: It will continue to serve breakfast and lunch, and you will still be able to get dinner and Sunday brunch at the adjacent Lounge.

One of the few true stalwarts of fine dining in Philadelphia, the Fountain holds a rare four-bell rating from the Inquirer's Craig LaBan, and top ratings from multiple travel guides (five diamonds from AAA; five stars from Forbes). It again topped the rankings for service in this year's Philadelphia restaurant survey from Zagat, released yesterday.

It was also at the Fountain that chef Jean-Marie Lacroix — mentor to many of the city's new guard of French chefs — made his name and cooked for more than two decades, before moving on to open Lacroix at the Rittenhouse.

From now through their final service, the Fountain is asking customers to share memories and photos via their Facebook page, and to make use of the hashtag #FountainFinalCourse when sharing food photos on Instagram.