Philadelphia Museum of Art Stir Restaurant

Stir will offer the first visible note of Gehry’s distinctive architectural style in the Museum’s public spaces—a signature touch of the architect who is currently transforming much of the interior of the Museum’s 1928 building through the Core Project, scheduled to be completed in 2020. The restaurant’s centerpiece will be a striking sculptural element, shaped in Douglas fir and flowing in form, that extends across the ceiling above the main dining room.

Stir will offer guests a rich and varied dining experience with an emphasis on seasonality and local sourcing. It will serve as a culinary destination for museumgoers seeking not only to enjoy a fine meal in a beautiful contemporary setting but also extend their visit and enhance their experience of the Museum’s collections and programs.

With seating for 76 people, Stir will convey a warm, intimate, and inviting ambiance. In addition to its dramatic, undulating ceiling, it will contain comfortable seating and tables designed by Gehry Partners. Its walls and ceiling will be clad in Douglas fir and its floors in red oak. The ebullient Gehry touch will be seen in a palette of materials that includes frosted glass, felt, steel, leather, bronze, and onyx. Stir has also been designed to provide views into the kitchen, providing an opportunity to see the staff at work.

Adjacent to Stir will be a new cafeteria, much larger than the Museum’s previous cafeteria, that will seat 160 guests. The Café extends the entire width of the building, with windows offering views to the East Terrace and its garden on one side and across the Schuylkill River to West Philadelphia on the other. It will feature stations for artisanal sandwiches, a seasonal rotation of salads, brick oven pizza, and specialty coffee, enabling visitors to enjoy the convenience of quick service and casual dining with a wide variety of options. Another feature to anticipate, opening with the North Entrance at street level in early 2019, is a new espresso bar in the Vaulted Walkway that is being made accessible to the public once again, for the first time since the mid-1970s. There visitors may sip coffee and sample house-made pastries, relax, and chat, while catching unexpected views of the building’s monumental façades through the skylights above.

Stir will be open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., and will offer brunch on Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Reservations can be made beginning October 8 by calling 215-684-7990.