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

The trio behind New York City’s Rebelle is on board to operate the restaurant at the gateway to University City.

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.