Bastia has a long list of accolades. Named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America and praised by the Wall Street Journal for redefining hotel dining in its first year, Bastia is located inside Hotel Anna & Bel, which was awarded a One Michelin Key last year. It is also the debut of Foyer Hospitality whose owners are residents of Fishtown and longtime developers in Philadelphia’s hospitality sector. The space itself is inside the former Penn Home, an 18th-century building originally used as a home for indigent widows and single women.
All of the recognition — and the history behind the space — is “incredibly exciting and humbling as well,” according to Galli Arbel, director of brand for the hotel.
“When developing our concept, we wanted to offer a unique angle on Mediterranean cuisine — specifically through the lens of Corsica and Sardinia, two islands that blend Italian flavors with French influences. Bastia is a port city on the northeast coast of Corsica, just north of Sardinia, and the name felt like the perfect expression of the culinary intersection we wanted to explore,” Arbel explained.
Chef Michael McDonough’s seasonally driven menus key in on coastal seafood, handmade pastas, rustic braises, and other ingredients from the Mediterranean; while Benjamin Kirk’s beverage program includes cocktails, aperitivos, and an imported wine selection that reflect the regions. Popular dishes that have been on the menu since the restaurant’s opening in August 2024 include the raw artichoke salad, storzapretti dumplings, and orata with tapenade.
Catering to hotel guests but open to any visitor, the breakfast menu has a variety of pastries like croissants and herb pie, different tartines, egg dishes like a breakfast sandwich or French omelette, and semolina pancakes with apple compote.
Brunch features similar items, with the addition of rigatoni carbonara, a cheeseburger with fontina and balsamic aioli, swordfish brochette, and Wagyu flank.
Complement the aforementioned dinner specials with dessert, which highlights burnt cardamom leaf panna cotta, Basque cheesecake, and olive oil cake.
Bastia’s cocktail list includes the namesake Bastia Spritz (Mazzura aperitivo, Bay Leaf Cocchi Americano, Perrier, prosecco, mandarin, and olive); Winter in Sardinia (gin, mirto, Bastia red bitter blend, Pineau des Charentes, Madeira, pineapple, and vanilla) and The Corsican Express (Sardinian gin, Bianco vermouth, Cap Corse Blanc, bitter bianco, mint, and rosemary).
Bastia was designed as a space that is both casual for daytime — breakfast, lunch, brunch, and all-day weekday café service — but also transforms into an elegant and sophisticated dinner spot for meals and happy hour. “We leaned into a clean, neutral design that honors the architecture while using lighting to create an elevated evening atmosphere,” Arbel described. The dining room has 60 seats, plus 15 bar seats. There is patio seating for brunch in the summer months and in the evenings as part of the cocktail bar Caletta.
“Philadelphia has a deep love for Italian cuisine, but Corsican and Sardinian food offers a genuinely different lens — heartier, more rustic, with French influences woven in. We wanted to bring flavors that feel new without feeling foreign, and a menu that works equally well for a weekday lunch or a celebratory dinner,” Arbel said.
