Rittenhouse French Bistro Decides to Rebrand

This Wednesday evening’s dinner service at Rittenhouses’s French bistro Crow & The Pitcher will be its last, but the restaurant is not closing. Crow & the Pitcher will be no more, but after a quick refurbishment of the space, the restaurant will change its name to Baril, after owner Michael Franco’s grandfather’s South Philly bar Johnny Barrels.

A statement issued through the restaurant’s newsletter said that the restaurant will reopen sometime in the first week of December with a new menu by current chef Greg Headen along with some consultation by Franco’s good friend and mentor Georges Perrier (Le Bec-Fin).

Crow & the Pitcher, you might remember, was the restaurant involved with a child pornography investigation surrounding its original chef and partner Alex Capasso. It’s been close to a year-and-a-half since Capasso was arrested, and all the while, for all intents and purposes, the restaurant’s done quite nicely for itself despite the bad press.

Being transparent with the media while severing ties completely with Capasso was a smart route by the Crow crew, and, hopefully, this rebrand will push the restaurant further than it could go before.