New York City's iconic Four Seasons restaurant is about to relocate - here's a look at its historic past

Advertisement

GettyImages 452000271

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

The restaurant's shimmering curtains are a signature touch.

Manhattan's famed Four Seasons restaurant, which is set to close on July 16, is known for its power lunches and a clientele that includes Henry Kissinger, Martha Stewart, and Michael Bloomberg, as well as plenty of bold-face names in the art world and finance industry.

Advertisement

The restaurant's current location at 99 East 52nd Street has been its home for more than 50 years. However, due to a rent hike and struggles with Aby Rosen, the restaurant's landlord at the Seagram Building, the Four Seasons has been on thin ice for over three years now. A sexual assault scandal with co-owner Julian Niccolini certainly hasn't helped its case.

But the restaurant has already found a new home, just "five minutes' walking distance" from the original, co-owner Alex von Bidder told Bloomberg. Just before the move, the restaurant will be auctioning off all of its contents, from the silverware to the furniture.

The relocation will cause Four Seasons to shut its doors for a full year. "What we're hoping is that absence makes the heart grow fonder," von Bidder said.

Let's take a look back at the restaurant's rich history, as well as the incredible food that has kept power lunchers coming for years.

Advertisement