Meet the Chefs: The Faces Behind Tampa Bay’s Restaurants

Cooking is an artwork kind, and the cooks behind these superbly crafted dishes are the artists. Tampa Bay is brimming with numerous culinary ideas and cooks who convey daring expertise and distinct taste profiles to the desk. From barbecue pitmasters to gluten-free innovators, we’re having a look on the faces behind a few of your favourite Tampa Bay eating places.

Jacob Rios
Next Level Brands – Culinary Director, Forbici Modern Italian, Boulon Brasserie and Bakery, Union New American

Jacob Rios, initially from Ponce, Puerto Rico, is Culinary Director for Next Level Brands, overseeing Boulon Brasserie, Forbici Modern Italian and Union New American. A Le Cordon Bleu graduate, he’s labored with Wolfgang Puck and Walt Disney World Resort.

A Food Network “Chopped” champion and two-time ACF “Next Big Thing” winner, Rios blends traditional method with trendy creativity rooted in his heritage whereas mentoring groups.

Lee Wolen
Executive Chef and Partner, Boka Restaurant Group; Executive Chef, Elliott Aster

After constructing a profession in eating places internationally, Chef Lee Wolen turned an govt chef and companion with Boka Restaurant Group, resulting in Elliott Aster, an Italian-inspired brasserie targeted on seasonal cooking.

His menus spotlight Florida seafood and produce, from-scratch pastas and wood-fired proteins.

Elliott Aster
501 fifth Ave. NE., St. Petersburg | (727) 824-8072 

Suzanne Lara
Chef and Founder, LARA

Though she grew up watching cooking reveals, Suzanne Lara’s path to the kitchen occurred organically. She began as a dishwasher and, via years of laborious work, earned her first head chef function by 26. Along the best way, she fell in love with hospitality and the power of restaurant life, serving to form a number of Tampa Bay ideas earlier than opening her personal in Ybor City.

At LARA, she blends high-quality substances with an approachable really feel, creating an area for everybody. Inspired by Tampa’s tradition and panorama, her hyper-seasonal menu options house-made pastas, juices and sauces, usually highlighting favourite substances akin to citrus, herbs, sesame and tahini.

LARA – Apothecary Bar & Bazaar
1919 E. seventh Ave., Tampa

Nana Darkwah & Joey De Los Santos
Executive Chef and Chef de Cuisine, Ocean Hai

Executive Chef Nana Darkwah, influenced by his Ghanaian roots, and Chef de Cuisine Joey De Los Santos, drawing from his Mexican heritage, convey globally impressed flavors collectively at Ocean Hai.

Ocean Hai
100 Coronado Drive, Clearwater Beach | (727) 281-9544

Danny Hernandez
Pitmaster and Founder, The Brisket Shoppe

Danny Hernandez was born into the culinary world, rising up in his household’s eating places, together with Pipo’s Cuban Cafe. Though changing into a chef wasn’t all the time the plan, he discovered himself drawn to the kitchen by a ardour for hospitality and constructing neighborhood.

He went on to discovered Holy Hog BBQ earlier than elevating his craft with The Brisket Shoppe, an idea rooted in Central Texas barbecue and small-batch cooking. Known for his Wagyu brisket cooked utilizing oak wooden, Hernandez focuses on live-fire methods and high quality substances. Through his restaurant and nonprofit, Peace Love and BBQ, he continues to present again to the neighborhood that formed him.

The Brisket Shoppe
3501 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa | (813) 879-4647

Debbie Devico-O’Neil
Executive Chef and Founder, Sōl St Pete Bistro

 Rooted in Canadian and Italian traditions, Debbie Devico-O’Neil’s method to meals is deeply private. Her expertise with celiac illness and meals sensitivities led her to discover the connection between meals, wellness and the physique, shaping her philosophy that meals ought to be each therapeutic and indulgent.

Before opening Sōl in 2021, she spent greater than a decade as a personal chef, caterer and educator within the purposeful wellness house. At Sōl, she creates an elevated eating expertise utilizing natural, gluten-free substances. Her prix-fixe menu is impressed by what’s contemporary and in season, from wild-caught seafood and pasture-raised meats to vibrant produce.   

Sōl St Pete Bistro
2149 third Ave. S., St. Petersburg | (727) 289-7598

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