PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A successful Philadelphia-based restaurateur has opened his 24th restaurant, this one near Rittenhouse Square.

Stephen Starr’s newest restaurant is called The Dandelion.

“We searched for a name,” Starr recalls.  “Many of them sounded countrived.  I liked the name Dandelion.  It sort of refers back to the Rolling Stones song ‘Dandelion.’  It’s from the ’60s.”

Hear the full interview in this CBS Philly Podcast…

Starr says he was inspired by the location, at the corner of 18th and Sansom Streets, in center city.

“I saw the corner — a real estate person called me and I went in and I saw that it was (once) a house.  I didn’t realize that because it was a shoe store and then a restaurant called Mantra.  But then I went upstairs and it was an old house!  And I said, ‘What an incredible thing, we could make this like an old style pub!’ “

It took Starr nine months to open The Dandelion from the initial idea to opening day.

“It’s a gastro pub with a British influence and the food, because our chef is from England, has sort of that aesthetic of British cuisine — but not 100 percent,” Starr told KYW Newsradio.

He admits that he and his team seem to be opening restaurants faster and faster.

Reported by Hadas Kuznits, KYW Newsradio 1060.