Kimmel Center’s new food operator is good enough for the king of England

The new food-and-beverage provider for the Kimmel Center, Academy of Music, and Miller Theater promises to “attack” long lines for concessions.

Rhubarb Hospitality Collection by Oak View Group, a high-end global hospitality provider, will oversee the concessions and experiences at the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts’ performance venues and event spaces. Its debut will be at the Great Stages Gala honoring Marian Anderson on June 8.

Rhubarb will take over the cafe on the Broad Street side of the Kimmel, most recently a location of Garces Trading Co., and the restaurant space on the Kimmel’s Spruce Street side, most recently Volvér. An announcement of the new names and menus is expected in several weeks; they are due to reopen this fall.

Rhubarb manages food and beverage at venues around the world, notably at the Historic Royal Palaces and Royal Albert Hall in London. It also operates restaurants including Peak NYC in New York, Frederick’s at Sony Center in Berlin, and Sky Garden in London. It replaces Garces Group, which bowed out recently after 12 years in Philadelphia.

Chris Granger, president of OVG360, which oversees Oak View Group’s hospitality division, called the partnership “a landmark opportunity in a great city with a great interest in the performing arts.”

He acknowledged food and beverage shortcomings, particularly at the Kimmel. “When you’re attending an event, one of the limitations of the venue has been a lack of points of sale, a lack of bars, long lines, and inability to access quality premium food and beverage throughout,” he told The Inquirer. ”First and foremost, we’re going to attack that issue with more bars, more points of sale, and hot food at multiple points. Our overarching mission here is to make those outlets accessible and interesting to patrons, and not just on event nights.”

Granger said they envision a cafe that’s open for breakfast, lunch, and pre- and post-theater drinks, as well as a restaurant that would be “a great destination restaurant, not just a pre-theater restaurant. We want this to be a place where people go once or twice a month just because it’s great food, a diverse menu, not a stuffy steakhouse, not a boring old-fashioned French restaurant.”

Granger said Rhubarb is “aggressive” about marketing and programming the venues — treating it as “more than just a night out of the theater.” Don’t expect celebrity chefs, he said. “This is about doing something that is unique and interesting and approachable — a simple sophistication with a diverse set of flavors.”