Michelin-Starred Team Is Opening Restaurant in University City

The restaurant space during a recent hard hat tour of the tower | Photo by Sandy Smith

The team behind New York’s Michelin-starred Rebelle is opening a restaurant in University City’s FMC Tower at Cira Centre South. The restaurant, which will be at the base of the mixed-use tower at 30th and Walnut is expected to open in early 2017. The tower is also home to AKA University City, a mix of luxury hotel rooms and apartment residences occupying the upper floors of the tower.

Chef Daniel Eddy, general manager Branden McRill and wine director Patrick Cappiello of Rebelle, as well as baker Melissa Weller, a veteran of Per Se and Roberta’s are all going to be involved in the project. Eddy is New York born but found himself drawn to France, where he worked at Spring alongside chef Daniel Rose, who recently returned to the States to open Le Coucou with Philadelphia’s Stephen Starr. McRill has a resumé just about anyone would kill for. He has worked at Chicago’s Alinea, Blackbird, Avec and Tru before heading to New York for Danny Meyer’s The Modern and then positions at Jean-Georges and the Red Rooster. Cappiello is a star in Peter Wells’ review of Rebelle and in addition to several national accolades, he is Playboy’s wine columnist.

Jerry Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine Trust, and developer of the FMC Tower says, “their culinary approach is well-aligned with the overall vision and modern, sophisticated aesthetic of the tower that we, along with our partners at AKA, worked to achieve.” The exact concept has not be revealed but it will not be a clone of Rebelle.

Hard Hat Tour: AKA University City [Property]