These two Tampa restaurants just got Michelin stars in the 2024 ceremony

TAMPA — For the second year in a row, Tampa got some stars.

On Thursday evening, two restaurants snagged a pair of coveted Michelin stars during a chef-studded award ceremony at the Edition hotel at Tampa’s Water Street development.

Japanese omakase spot Kosen and contemporary fine dining restaurant Ebbe each received a one-star rating from the elite restaurant guide, joining Rocca, Lilac and Koya as the only restaurants in the city with stars.

South Tampa’s Streetlight Taco received a Bib Gourmand, which is given to restaurants of good value. Chef Michael Brannock was at the ceremony Thursday, though that distinction for the contemporary Mexican restaurant was first announced last week.

Chef Ebbe Vollmer said he was surprised but happy to get a star. The selection of dishes at his tasting menu restaurant Ebbe rotates daily, and he tries to source locally when he can, but it has been more challenging than expected, he said.

“We have a path forward. We try to be a percent better every day, that’s our goal.”

Chef Wei Chen of Kosen was all smiles after the announcement, ecstatic about the night’s win.

“I’ve been a chef for 20 years and this is my first time getting a Michelin star,” he said. “I’m so excited.”

Kosen and Ebbe are both relatively new additions to Tampa’s dining scene. Kosen, from the group behind the Bento franchise, opened in fall 2023 on the ground floor of the Pearl Apartments in Tampa Heights. Orlando-based Omei Restaurant Group owners Johnny and Jimmy Tung started the fast-casual Bento chain 20 years ago in Gainesville and now have 25 locations throughout the state. The group owns other Orlando restaurants, including Camille, which also took home a star on Thursday night.

Swedish-born Vollmer opened Ebbe in May 2023 inside the N. Franklin Street building formerly home to Mole Y Abuela in downtown Tampa. The chef has helmed other Michelin-starred restaurants in the past, including Singapore’s Jaan and Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road in London.

Thursday’s announcement marked the third time Florida restaurants have been eligible for stars since the international guide came to the state. It’s part of a paid partnership between the Michelin Guide, Visit Florida and tourism marketing agencies in Tampa, Orlando and Miami — the only Florida cities so far that have been eligible to receive stars.

This year’s ceremony took place on the second floor of Tampa’s glitzy Edition hotel. Throngs of guests snaked through hallways clutching glasses of Champagne, passing ice sculptures chilling caviar and oysters while servers handed out Maine lobster canapes and duck fat tater tots. The Edition’s restaurant Lilac, Chug’s Diner from Miami and Orlando’s Bombay Street Kitchen provided the food for the night.

Arguably the world’s most recognized restaurant ranking system, Michelin began bestowing stars and Bib Gourmand awards to restaurants in Florida in 2022 following a roughly $1.5-million investment from tourism boards in the state. The guide’s recently revamped funding structure favors these kinds of partnerships — Michelin’s expansions are now frequently paid for by hefty investments from the cities where it lands, a practice that has received a healthy amount of criticism.

While three is the most stars a restaurant can receive, snagging any stars at all is considered a major success in the industry. Inspectors visit restaurants anonymously and judge eateries on various criteria, including quality of product, mastery of flavors and excellence in technique.

This year’s star recipients didn’t come as a total surprise: Both Kosen and Ebbe were mentioned in a press release from the guide in February, where inspectors listed six new restaurants as “recommended” additions to the guide, meaning they could possibly be up for a star.

And both Kosen and Ebbe fit the bill for what Michelin inspectors notoriously favor: expensive, fine dining tasting menu restaurants. At Kosen, the chef’s counter omakase dinner comes to $362 per person, after tax and a mandatory 20% service charge. If you’re doing the 11-course chef’s counter menu at Ebbe, dinner for one comes to $432. The restaurant also offers a five-course tasting menu for $225 per person, after tax and tip.

In their notes, inspectors praised Kosen for its omakase program and chef Chen’s “skill and precision” with dishes like a sea bream wrapped around sprouts with shaved black truffle and a nigiri program that leans traditional with “showmanship and style.”

Kosen has an attached separate concept, Ko, which serves a different, kaiseki-style menu, but that portion of the restaurant did not receive praise in Michelin’s announcement.

Of Ebbe, inspectors said they enjoyed Vollmer’s “clever and confident” cooking, showcased in dishes that included Scandinavian accents like a beet roulade with brown butter and black cherry sauce and a braised oxtail with seared foie gras and a brunoise of sunchoke.

Water Street restaurants The Pearl and Predalina were also among the spots added as recommendations to the guide in February, as was Supernatural Food & Wine, but none got a star or Bib Gourmand mention during Thursday’s ceremony.

Seven other restaurants in the state were awarded one-star status on Thursday: EntreNos, Ogawa and Shingo in Miami and Victoria & Albert’s, Papa Llama, Camille and Natsu in Orlando. The guide gave out other awards, too, including two of its Green Star awards — given to restaurants that excel in sustainable gastronomy — to Filipino restaurant Kaya in Orlando and Los Félix/Krüs Kitchen in Miami.

The evening marked the end of the three-year contract between the Michelin Guide and Florida. Despite such a large investment, both Visit Tampa Bay and Visit Florida have said they’d welcome extending the contract with Michelin. But those conversations haven’t happened yet.

A spokesperson for Michelin would not share details pertaining to contracts, citing privacy concerns for “competitive reasons.” But once the guide for a particular city or region has been published, “the intent is for it to remain there” with continued financial investments, they said.

Thursday’s ceremony was held in a packed ballroom with Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, greeting the crowd.

“We have come a long way and yet as powerful as this moment is, it comes as no surprise,” he said. “Tampa Bay has been distinguishing itself for many years.”