Tyler Akin

Philadelphia chef and restaurateur Tyler Akin, founder of Form-Function Hospitality, brings Corsican and Sardinian inspiration to Bastia while drawing on a career spanning Mediterranean, Southeast Asian, and French cuisines.

Chef

Restaurants

Learn more about the chef's restaurant(s) and add to your wishlist.

Bastia

Philadelphia, United States

About the Chef

Tyler Akin is a Philadelphia-based chef, restaurateur, and founder of Form-Function Hospitality. He is chef-partner of Bastia, a Corsican- and Sardinian-inspired restaurant with an adjoining cocktail bar, Caletta, at the Hotel Anna & Bel in Fishtown. Born in Wilmington, Akin has built his career in the mid-Atlantic while cooking across a wide range of cuisines. His earliest lessons came from his southern grandmother. “She had very little, but she made it feel abundant, even with arthritic hands and a dull little paring knife,” he recalled.

Akin began cooking at age 23 in Washington, D.C., as a line cook at the now-closed Komi, a formative experience that exposed him to Greek Mediterranean flavors. He was also on the opening team of Komi’s adjacent Thai restaurant, Little Serow. In 2012, at 28, he moved to Philadelphia to become sous chef at Michael Solomonov’s Zahav. Two years later, he opened the first location of Stock, his Southeast Asian–leaning noodle soup restaurant. “It was the food I wanted to be doing at that time,” he said. “I got really comfortable with the ingredients, flavors, and techniques at Little Serow. I was also obsessed with pho at that point in my life.”

In 2016, Akin opened Res Ipsa in Rittenhouse with executive chef Michael Ferreri. The cafe, known early on for its breakfast sandwiches, evolved into a full Italian restaurant by night. In 2018, he debuted another location of Stock in Rittenhouse. Both restaurants closed during the pandemic between 2020 and 2021.

As for many other chefs, 2020 was a turning point in Akin’s career. He was a founding board member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition and a 2020 Philadelphia Business Journal “40 Under 40” award honoree.

In 2020, Akin returned to his birthplace to open Le Cavalier at the Hotel Dupont, a French project that carried him into his current home at Bastia. “I went down a rabbit hole and started buying every cookbook and took trips over to Sardinia and Corsica, fell in love with both islands. It felt like combining the two was a fresh perspective,” he explained.

“I get bored,” he admitted, explaining his wide-ranging interests. “I’ve followed my passions by learning, practicing, and traveling.”

Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Chef Tyler Akin

What Is Your Deserted Island Meal?

A bowl of shaved noodles in a very spicy Sichuan-style beef stew with a lot of chili oil and pickled mustard greens.

What’s Your Most Poignant Food Memory?

My grandmother had very little but she made it feel abundant at the meals she served us in Baltimore, from when I was a baby up until I was 23. She was Southern, from Roanoke, Virginia. Cornbread was the centerpiece. There would be ham, steaks, fried chicken, and ‘grammy beans’—she’d cook down green beans with ham hocks and that will likely make it onto my future tasting menu. She made macaroni salad with a mayo dressing and a brunoise of celery, carrots, and onion, but she didn’t call it a brunoise. I learned about cooking from her through osmosis. I’ve recreated her dishes through taste. She cooked the way I do at home, by instinct and not recipes.

What Does Fine Dining Mean to You?

Fine dining is more of a feeling than a set of criteria. I think of the trappings of fine dining, with the bespoke ceramics and linens and servers dressed up, but my kind of fine dining is more casual. I love restaurants that are barely restaurants like Les Enfants du Marché in Paris with its chalkboard menu, and Rosetta in Mexico City where I had lunch in their streetery when it was 100 degrees—and those moments felt finer than a lot of places I’ve eaten. They’re about attention to detail when it comes to service and food that is precise and consistent.

What Are Your Restaurant Goals or Dreams?

For Bastia, I’d love Michelin recognition and a Beard Award. I’d like it to become an institution in this city that will still be here in 15 years, while feeling relevant and exciting.

What’s On Your Restaurant Bucket List to Visit?

Vern’s in Charleston, Rolf and Daughters in Nashville, Asador Etxebarri in Basque Country, Al Gatto Verde in Modena, BRAT in England.

What Is Your Food/Cooking Philosophy?

Good ingredients with minimal intervention. We’re not using a lot of progressive cooking techniques here. We’re making food look natural on the plate, removing components as opposed to adding them. Leaning on others and finding space for collaboration across the menu.