Inside the Art Museum’s Frank Gehry-designed restaurant

Jeffrey Totaro

A new, Frank Gehry-designed restaurant, opens in the Philadelphia Art Museum today, marking the first major completion of the famous architect’s master plan for the museum. 

The 76-person restaurant, called “Stir,” sits in the back of the museum’s ground floor, and offers up a number of clearly Gehry-esq touches. An undulating Douglas fir ceiling is accented by a curved wood latticework that museum officials refer to as “the nest.” There’s warm lighting, red oak floors, and a sleek, open kitchen so you can see the chefs work. 

“The ebullient Gehry touch will be seen in a palette of materials that includes frosted glass, felt, steel, leather, bronze, and onyx,” the museum said in a statement on the restaurant.

In addition to its striking interior, the restaurant offers an array of seasonal, locally sourced foods for brunch and lunch only, many with French and Italian inspirations. There are the marinated Jersey plums with stracciatella cheese ($10), seared Barnegat scallops with caper salsa verde ($29), and pan roasted Pennsylvania trout with eggplant provençal ($22).