Hot N.Y. restaurateurs to open at Cira Centre South's FMC Tower

The trio behind New York City's French-ish bistro Rebelle - Branden McRill, Patrick Cappiello, and chef Daniel Eddy, along with Pennsylvania-raised, chemical engineer-turned-baker Melissa Weller of Sadelle's in New York - are on board to operate the restaurant, as confirmed by Brandywine president and CEO Jerry Sweeney and AKA CEO Larry Korman. (AKA will operate the luxury hotel/apartments on the tower's upper 19 floors.)

Korman said the restaurant will have a world-class wine program. He pointed to the involvement of Cappiello, a sommelier and also a co-founder with McRill of New York's highly regarded Pearl & Ash.

Sweeney said the restaurant would serve not only residents and the University City community but would become a destination, given its location off the expressway. A parking garage and porte-cochère will allow for easy access.

The mixed-use tower is billed as Philadelphia's first "vertical neighborhood."

AKA also operates posh pads in Rittenhouse Square - home of a.kitchen and a.bar, which High Street Restaurant Group operates - and in Washington Square West, at what was known as the Ben Franklin House on Chestnut Street near Ninth.