On Wednesday, July 11, Fearless Restaurants debuted Louie Louie Bistro & Bar at the Inn at Penn across from the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
Louie Louie is an American bistro with French flair. The menu will feature influences from European cafes and offer a diverse menu as well as homemade pastries and desserts. Director of Culinary Clark Gilbert said, “The menu offers simple, seasonal, ingredient-inspired, no fuss food. The menu offers an authentic style of cooking based on a classical combination of flavors. The food at Louie Louie Bistro & Bar is Cuisine Grand Mere. It is comfort food in the truest and most literal definition of the phrase,” he added.
Signature dishes will include a Caramelized Onion Tart, consisting of a warm puff pastry, caramelized onions, goat cheese, black olives and arugula; Tuna Nicoise Tartine, made with albacore tuna salad, grilled country bread, Nicoise vegetables; and Mussels and Frites, made with white wine, tomato, garlic, fine herbs and a spicy aioli.
Louie Louis Bistro & Bar includes a large bar and lounge with an extensive beverage program, highlighting wines by the glass and bottle, as well as seasonal specialty cocktails and craft beers. The interior is designed by Philadelphia-based Rohe Creative, led by Principal Kate Rohrer, whose work has been featured in both Architectural Digest and Hospitality Design Magazine. The design incorporates expansive outdoor seating that flows seamlessly from the interior.
Rohrer has transformed the 6,000-square-foot space to include elements inspired by the Art Nouveau period. “The design included a feel-good feeling,” Rohrer said. Rohrer used traditional wood tones with nouveau details, reclaimed subway tiles, tried and true black and white marble stones as flooring and wainscoting and blue and buttery leathers, fabrics and patterns to bring color and graphic identities to the space. The custom furniture and lighting uses traditional details and antique brass metals juxtapose with the modern glass globes ad forms.
“As we worked through the blend of classic European details with bold and bright ideology, we began to realize that we had something special, a design language we call Retro Nouveau,” Rohrer said. The restaurant includes a lobby lounge in the former lobby of the Inn at Penn, a main dining room, It provides dining areas and an outdoor dining experience that allows guests to enjoy the bustling energy of Walnut Street. “This is where the idea of a Grand Café comes into play,” Rohrer said. “It is about integrating the outdoor energy with the indoors.”
Louie Louie Bistro & Bar has 160 seats inside, 50 seats outdoors, 15 bar seats, and an additional 30 seats in the lobby. Louie Louie Bistro & Bar will be open for lunch and happy hour Monday – Friday, weekend brunch and dinner, and open late-night seven days a week.
Fearless Restaurants is an expanding collection of restaurants featuring engaging décor, inspired hospitality, creative menus and a dining experience that allures all of the senses. Lead by restaurateur Marty Grims and his daughter Sydney Grims, Fearless Restaurants creates neighborhood favorites that become a destination for dining. In Pennsylvania, Fearless Restaurants include the landmark Moshulu Restaurant on Penn’s Landing, White Dog Cafe in University City, Wayne and Haverford, Autograph Brasserie in Wayne. On Long Beach Island, NJ: Plantation Restaurant, Daddy O Restaurant & Hotel and Tuckers Tavern.
You can find Louie Louie Bistro & Bar at 3611 Walnut St. in Philadelphia.
- Photo: Louie Louie
