PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Stephen Starr’s name has been a mainstay in Philadelphia’s culinary scene since he opened the doors of The Continental in Center City in 1995.

After 30 years and more than 40 restaurants across the county later, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Starr’s latest restaurant, Borromini is a massive, two-story space in the heart of Rittenhouse Square.

“When I was in Rome, I saw this restaurant called Matriciana,” Starr says. “It was really their sign that made me do this.”

Starr’s Roman moment inspired him to breathe new life into the old Barnes and Noble location.

“There was magic in that sign,” he says. “The letters were like a marquee on Broadway. When I came back to Philadelphia, I said: ‘I’m going to do it. I could do the same thing on Rittenhouse Square, beachfront property, and people are just going to gravitate towards towards that sign.”

Named for the 17th-century Italian architect Francesco Borromini, this is Starr’s eighth restaurant in the Rittenhouse area alone and his first new restaurant in Philadelphia in three years.

“I love Philadelphia,” he says. “I believe in the city because it’s a vital city. It’s vision. Vision and luck.”

Starr went to school to study film and describes himself as a “frustrated filmmaker.” He says he approaches each new restaurant as the director.

“I’m producing a movie,” he says, pointing around. “This is the movie. This is the movie set.”

And he’s already working on his next production.

The seafood restaurant, catty corner to Borromini on the square, is now vacant.

“We’re doing that too,” he laughs, reluctant to give up any details. “I can’t tell you because I could change my mind, but it’s going to be good though. It’s going to be really good.”

The menu at Borromini is a roundup of Starr’s favorite bites across Italy.

“The 100-layer lasagna, everybody’s going insane,” he says. “The spaghetti al limone is on this menu because of me. It’s my favorite. I had it in Amalfi.”

With the bright scent and zest of those famous fresh lemons in Amalfi’s famous lemon spaghetti, Starr captures scenes from his travels with each dish. And Executive Chef Julian Baker shares the recipe with us.

Spaghetti Al Limone recipe from Borromini:

Ingredients:

– 1/4 box of spaghetti pasta
– 6 tablespoons beurre monte (recipe below)
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
– 1/8 teaspoon chili flakes
– Juice and zest of half a lemon
– 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
– 1 tablespoon Parmigiano Reggiano to finish

Beurre monte recipe:

– 1 pound unsalted butter
– 1.5 cups water
– 2 tablespoons heavy cream
– 2 teaspoons salt

Beurre monte directions:

1. Combine water, salt and cream, bring to boil
2. Remove from heat and hand buzz in the cold butter
3. Store in warm location

Spaghetti al limone directions:

1. Place beurre monte into sauté pan and add salt, black pepper, chili flake and bring to light boil
2. In a pot, boil salted water, drop in pasta and cook until tender
3. When spaghetti is cooked, drop pasta into sauté pan with the beurre monte and add lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley
4. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning if needed
5. Toss to coat the pasta and reduce if needed, it should be slightly wet.
6. Place in bowl and top with Parmigiano Reggiano.
7. Serve immediately and mangia!

Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.