t’s summer and that means I have one goal at basically all times: to be lounging in a pool. It’s the Florida girl in me, what can I say?
So when my boyfriend, Mark, and I decided to take some days off together for a staycation, Fishtown’s Hotel Anna & Bel immediately came to mind. The boutique hotel, in a historic property that once served as a women’s home, opened in 2024 with a heated pool in its luxe open-air courtyard. A stay at the 50-room hotel guarantees exclusive poolside service, enjoyed while lounging on a cozy recliner. (Sorry, no day passes here.)
We kicked off our first night as tourists in our own city with a meal at Bastia, the in-hotel restaurant with a Sardinian- and Corsican-inspired menu. Many excellent bites were had: skate cheeks over white polenta and sweet peppers that transported me back to the South, a bright artichoke salad with shaved Parmesan, and a morel tart that inspired at least one limerick about how good morels are.
But one special in particular really sang.
Mark loves eating fish and is an excellent cook, but he’s a hamachi collar skeptic, having tried so many that have been underseasoned, uninspiring, and so tough you have to scrape the should-be fatty meat off the bone.
He had all but written off the cut — until executive chef Michael McDonough’s hamachi collar with grilled fioretto cauliflower, beldi olive agrodolce, and golden raisin glaze hit the table. One bite and Mark was sold. “It’s as if they cooked hamachi collars like they were sweet barbecue ribs,” he said.
The fish itself was blackened and tender, lacquered with a complex glaze, and brightened by a spritz of grilled lemon wedge. Its meat fell right off the bone and melted in our mouths.
This special frequently appears on Bastia’s menu because the hamachi collar is leftover after the kitchen team preps the amberjack crudo that lives on the menu at Caletta, the restaurant’s moodier, more playful cocktail lounge sister. (Hamachi is the Japanese name for amberjack, aka yellowtail.)
McDonough said the accompanying components came together out of seasonality and theme. Fioretto cauliflower — whose heads are nuttier and less dense than standard cauliflower — is at its peak. Beldi olives (Moroccan cured black olives) and golden raisins are crossover ingredients in the Sardinian, Corsican, and neighboring North African trade hub.
My other favorite bite was good enough to order twice.
Bastia’s swordfish skewers are a mainstay on its menu. They start with a center-cut loin that’s diced and marinated in an herb blend of parsley and marjoram. McDonough preserves the herbs’ vibrant green color by emulsifying them in oil with a little bit of ice. From there, the kebabs are grilled and finished with Sicilian olive oil, fresh lemon juice, French sea salt, and walnut pesto. The set of emerald green kabobs are served atop a bed of black rice with citrus labneh.
We enjoyed the skewers so much, we ordered them the next day from Anna & Bel’s poolside menu, which pairs them with golden, traditional-cut fries. After a few bites washed down with Caletta’s dirty martini and tonic (a best-of-both-worlds drink off the bar’s aperitivo hour menu), we determined our future pool days have been ruined forever.
