How This Dumpling Became Bastia’s Signature Dish

Storzapretti at Bastia / Photograph by Courtney Apple, originally in Bastia: A Mediterranean Marvel in Fishtown

Welcome to Just One Dish, a Foobooz series that looks at an outstanding item on a Philly restaurant’s menu — the story behind the dish, how it’s made, and why you should be going out of your way to try it.

It’s been one year since Bastia opened, and the menu continues to change like the current of the Mediterranean Sea. It flows with the seasons and shifts on a whim. And though there are some dishes that anchor the ever-changing feast — like the swordfish brochettes and the skate cheeks — there is one that prevails as the restaurant’s signature: the storzapretti.

The tender ricotta dumpling — firmly packed with an herbaceous blend of sautéed Swiss chard and fresh mint, rolled in semolina flour, and covered in a bright marinara sauce — is native to Bastia, the capital of Corsica, an island sitting between the coasts of France and Italy. “It felt really close to the concept here,” explains chef Tyler Akin.

Before opening the alluring year-old restaurant in the Anna & Bel hotel (and the top pick on our 50 Best Restaurants list), Akin knew that he wanted to explore the unique maritime cuisines of Sardinia and Corsica.

The Mediterranean is a confluence of cultures, with nuanced cuisines in every port you visit. And though the two islands are relatively close to one another, they are two different countries: Sardinia is part of Italy, while Corsica is part of France. Yet both have a beautiful blend of French, Italian, and Catalan influences seen through the pastas, regional cheeses, roasted meats, and the wide variety of seafood, the latter of which was most alluring to Akin.

Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

So, he set out on his journey and for two weeks ate his way across each island. “I wanted to really immerse myself in Corsica and Sardinia before we opened,” Akin says. Once in the city of Bastia, which inspired the name for his restaurant, he tried a number of versions of storzapretti. “I loved it, and I loved the texture, and it was really interesting and novel,” he says, adding that when it came time to build the menu, he really wanted to put his own twist on the dish.

Instead of a traditional marinara sauce, Akin drenches his storzapretti in a spicy arrabbiata sauce punched up with fiery Calabrian chili and salty, savory guanciale, then finishes with a dusting of smoky Fiore Sardo cheese.

Akin’s Sardinian- and Corsican-influenced menu offers Philly diners a perspective on Mediterranean food you can’t find anywhere else in the region. And though there’s always something new to try, the light yet hearty storzapretti is still the one dish that, one year after opening, diners never skip. “I think it’s one of those dishes,” Akin says. “It’s probably never going to leave.”