Gov. Shapiro and M. Night Shyamalan tried out Borromini, Stephen Starr’s new Italian restaurant
They’re just two of the well-known people who have dined at the Rittenhouse Square trattoria since it opened in late August.
We’ll never know if Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and M. Night Shyamalan, the filmmaker behind The Sixth Sense and The Village, were working on a movie script while dining at Borromini on Saturday night.
Either way, “I see famous people” would be a fair line to write about Stephen Starr’s new Italian restaurant.
Shapiro and Shyamalan, both of whom grew up in Montgomery County, are just two of the luminaries highlighted in a recent Instagram post promoting the restaurant, which opened Aug. 25.
“We were thrilled to host [Shapiro] (2028!!!) and film director [Shyamalan] this evening at Borromini,” Starr wrote on Instagram.
Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder confirmed the governor had dinner at Borromini on Saturday but declined to provide more details. (Anyway, it’s not like Shapiro is Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce, whose Mother’s Day brunch at Talula’s Garden in Washington Square had fans hanging on every detail.)
The Instagram post also name-dropped Saturday Night Live alum comedian Cheri Oteri, Philly 2026 director Michael Newmuis, and Philadelphia Eagles 2025 Superbowl champion cornerback Cooper DeJean.
You could pretty much toss a football from Borromini, located on the northeast edge of Rittenhouse Square, to Starr’s mainstay French bistro, Parc, on the square’s east side.
With such choices at hand, one of Parc’s most famous repeat customers, Democratic former President Joe Biden, skipped his old haunt while in town Thursday, opting instead to celebrate his granddaughter’s birthday at Borromini, according to PhillyVoice.
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Starr is a Democratic donor and has several restaurants in Washington. But not all Dems may be dining there these days.
In June, prominent Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California joined a boycott of three of Starr’s D.C. restaurants over a labor dispute, Axios reported. About 75 members of Congress signed a pledge, including Democratic Reps. Dwight Evans, Brendan Boyle and Mary Gay Scanlon.
In late July, a spokesperson for Starr Restaurants said the majority of its Washington restaurants’ staff opposed the unionization effort.
Starr’s company owns a total of 41 restaurants in Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Florida, and Nashville, according to the company’s website.
Nearly half of those are in Philly, where in addition to Borromini, Parc, and Talula’s Garden, Starr’s offerings include Barclay Prime, Buddakan, Butcher and Singer, Cafe Click, The Continental, The Dandelion, Fette Sau, Frankford Hall, Jackass Burrito, The Love, Morimoto, Pizzeria Stella, Ranstead Room, El Rey, Talula’s Daily, and El Vez.