Michelin adds 6 Tampa restaurants to Florida guide

Six new Tampa restaurants were added to Florida’s Michelin Guide on Wednesday, roughly two months before the esteemed guide’s 2024 star reveal.

Streetlight Taco, Supernatural Food & Wine, Predalina, The Pearl, Kosen and Ebbe are all listed as “new” additions to the guide. In total, 19 new restaurants were added between Tampa, Orlando and Miami, the only Florida cities visited by Michelin inspectors.

The additions mean the restaurants named could be eligible for the guide’s coveted star ratings or Bib Gourmand selections, but not necessarily. According to a news release, the establishments are highlighted “to help food lovers enjoy new discoveries before the annual announcement of Bib Gourmands and stars.”

Though the James Beard awards are considered by many the Oscars of the culinary world, the Michelin Guide is arguably the most well-known and respected restaurant ratings system, known for garnering international accolades and recognition for restaurants that get star ratings.

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

The guide also bestows Bib Gourmand status to restaurants, allotted to “best value” restaurants where diners can leave “with a sense of satisfaction, at having eaten so well at such a reasonable price.”

It’s been three years since the international guide began its foray into Florida, part of a partnership between Michelin Guide and the state’s tourism marketing agency Visit Florida and tourism marketing boards in Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

Since the guide launched in Florida, local chefs have been hopeful that stars and additional accolades would help bring more widespread recognition to the Tampa Bay area.

So far, three Tampa restaurants have snagged a one-star rating — Rocca, Lilac and Koya — and a few more have received Bib Gourmand status, including Rooster & The Till, Gorkhali Kitchen, Psomi and the since-shuttered Ichicoro Ramen.

Stars and Bib Gourmand selections for the 2024 Florida guide will be announced at a ceremony in Tampa on April 18.