Oysters and Gin Are on the Menu at the Wayward, Opening in a New Philly Hotel

The historic Stephen Girard building in Center City’s East Market development opens early April as a Canopy by Hilton hotel with a French restaurant off the lobby. The restaurant, called the Wayward, is setting up at 1170 Ludlow Street.

The ongoing East Market project has been slowly transforming the area around 12th and Market into a mixed-use development with apartment towers, offices, and retail. The renovation of the late-1800s Stephen Girard building to a hotel is one of the last pieces.

The Wayward is being described as an American brasserie, with French-influenced American dishes. It sounds pretty French: There are raw bar items like oysters, gruyere beignets with sour cream and onion seasoning, escargot croquettes, steak tartare, branzino with haricots verts and preserved lemon, and lamb neck Provençal.

To drink, look for several variations of the French 75 cocktail, American and French wines, and what the restaurant says will be the biggest selection of gin in the city.

At the helm is chef Yun Fuentes, coming from Jose Garces’s and Stephen Starr’s restaurants. Before landing in Philly, Fuentes worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York and at a French restaurant in Puerto Rico, where he is originally from.

The Wayward will serve lunch and dinner, with room for 90 diners inside and another 30 on the sidewalk. The hotel is taking reservations starting April 8, so expect the restaurant to be open around then too.

Here are some renderings of the dining room:

The Wayward

The Wayward

And get ready for a fancy bathroom:

The Wayward

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