Barra Opening Tonight in Old City
Gordon Dinerman of Birra has recently helped Rob LaScala turn his Rocchino’s and Azione spots in Old City into one, larger restaurant called Barra. Rocchino’s and Azione were established at 2nd and Chestnut for six months before LaScala turned to Dinerman to relaunch the two as one, which was facilitated by a previous open connection between the two restaurants.
Barra, as described by Dinerman, is “Birra’s younger but more dynamic sibling” and promises a more sophisticated menu and bar program, as well as a late-night lounge scene. The new Barra will have 145 seats, open seven days a week for lunch, dinner, happy hour, late night, and Sunday brunch.
The menu will be a rustic take on chef Andrew Fox’s greatest hits at Birra as he now splits his time between the sibling restaurants. The plates, designed for sharing, will feature Birra favorites like whole scampi prawns, mussels (red and white) and mushroom salad with new dishes like fresh-made pappardelle with sautéed Maine lobster and black pepper fettucine carbonara with house-cured pancetta. Barra’s late-night menu will feature coal-oven pizza and other bar snacks until 1am, with a DJ spinning Thursday-Saturday nights.
The restaurant will be soft-opening tonight for dinner and a grand opening party is scheduled for June 21st at 10pm. Barra will initially be serving only dinner, late-night, and happy hour as brunch and lunch will come later this summer.
