Philly Offers Chances to Eat with Art from Go Phila.com

A family enjoys a performance at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the city’s popular outdoor cultural arts center. The seasonal lineup runs the gamut, including Broadway shows, children’s performances and dance theater events, as well as a long list of rock, pop, world, gospel and folk concerts.

Credit: Photo by M. Kennedy for GPTMC

Throughout Philadelphia and The Countryside®, museums, gardens and performing arts centers are serving visitors enticing meals, from delicate French cuisine to juicy burgers to kosher snacks. Here’s a look at a few of the region’s best bets for a complete cultural day (or night) out:

• Inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Stephen Starr’s contemporary French eatery Granite Hilldishes up museum-quality plates of olive oil-poached tuna with a white bean purée and marinated grape tomatoes, and roasted branzino meunière with capers and lemon brown butter. The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, for dinner on Friday and for brunch on Sunday. 26^th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 684-7990, philamuseum.org/dining
• Wyeth family paintings are the stars at the Brandywine River Museum, but the cafeteria-style dining area in this former gristmill offers its own striking view of the rushing waters below, a beautiful setting for breakfast, lunch and snacks. 1 Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, (610) 388-2700,brandywinemuseum.org
• Operated by the prestigious Jeffrey A. Miller Catering company, the Museum Cafe at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown offers a changing selection of gourmet sandwiches, salads and baked goods. Patrons can eat in the indoor area or, weather permitting, in the outdoor courtyard. 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown, (215) 340-9800, michenermuseum.org
• The Franklin Institute’s Franklin Foodworks was recently updated with a Kitchen Science exhibit that demonstrates the whys and hows behind cooking, and the casual restaurant cooks up its own delicious exhibits of Angus burgers, salads, creative sandwiches and cupcakes. 222 N. 20^th Street, (215) 448-1200, fi.edu
• Serving kosher fare, including dairy snacks, light meals, coffee and beverages, the National Museum of American Jewish History’s Pomegranates Café is a welcoming place to refuel before or after a visit to the museum. 101 S. Independence Mall East, (215) 923-3811, nmajh.org
• Viewing mummies and ancient artifacts can work up an appetite, and the upscale cafeteria-stylePepper Mill Café in the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) obliges with a mix of soups, salads and hot meals, along with occasional special menus of exhibit-inspired dishes. 3260 South Street, (215) 898-4000, penn.museum
• With Wolfgang Puck Catering at the helm, visitors to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts can choose between the casual fare at the PECO Bar (BBQ chicken pizza, turkey and Gouda sandwiches on brioche) and the fanciful desserts and cocktails at the Annex Bar. 260 S. Broad Street, (215) 790-5800, kimmelcenter.org
• Wolfgang Puck is also behind Crescendo, the restaurant at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. The summertime eatery for concertgoers delivers seasonally inspired selections such as pan-seared salmon with mango-cucumber salsa and strawberry panna cotta. 5201 Parkside Avenue, (215) 878-0400, manncenter.org
• A Certified Green Restaurant, 1906 at Longwood Gardens offers visitors a full-service dining experience with a view of the Conservatory. The eco-minded menu might include locally sourced mushroom soup, braised short ribs with Chester County root vegetables and wine from a nearby vineyard. 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, (610) 388-5290, 1906atlongwood.com

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.