Tampa chef finalist
Tampa chef Bryce Bonsack has been named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: South — he runs Rocca Tampa and also operates Bar Terroir and Streetlight Taco, and the awards ceremony is set for June in Chicago (wild941.com). Bonsack’s finalist nod is another signal of Tampa’s rising culinary profile after Michelin and local acclaim at his restaurants (wild941.com).
The James Beard Foundation posted its 2026 Restaurant and Chef finalists on March 31, 2026, and winners for the Restaurant and Chef Awards will be revealed on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) Bonsack is one of the Best Chef: South finalists alongside Ana Castro (Acamaya, New Orleans), Maria La Mota & Chason Spencer (Chancho King, Jacksonville), Serigne Mbaye (Dakar NOLA, New Orleans), and Jason Paul (Heirloom at The 1907, Rogers, AR). (wfla.com) Rocca earned its first Michelin star as part of the Guide’s 2023 announcements, joining other Tampa recipients that year. (tbbwmag.com) Rocca is currently listed as a one-star restaurant on the Michelin Guide’s website. (guide.michelin.com) Chef Bonsack trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, before working in New York City kitchens including Corton and Blanca. (roccatampa.com) Bonsack also spent a year-long culinary pilgrimage in Piedmont, Italy, which the restaurant says informs Rocca’s handmade-pasta focus. (tampamagazines.com) Tampa’s Michelin momentum has grown: the city had five Michelin-starred restaurants listed in the 2024 guide. (cltampa.com) Local coverage notes the Tampa Bay area had not placed a finalist in a James Beard category since 2015, when Bern’s Steak House was a finalist for Outstanding Wine Program. (cltampa.com)
