Food

2025 Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival reveals restaurant lineup

by Alexandria Ebron

Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival prepares to deliver a bigger and bolder experience for its third year from April 8-12, 2025.

Ticketed guests can look forward to the debut of the “Experience St. Pete” and “Experience Tampa” events along with the return of Chef Robert Irvine, celebrity chef and Tampa Bay local, as this year’s host. GOYA Foods’ Executive Chef Fernando Desa and Chef Sean Brasel of Meat Market will join Irvine and other local culinary talents to deliver an extraordinary festival experience.
Celebrations begin Tuesday, April 8 with “An Evening at the Tampa Club,” an invite-only cocktail event. On Wednesday, April 9, the inaugural “Experience St. Pete” highlights two culinary gems of St. Pete: Birch & Vine and Parkshore Grill. Executive Chef Lee Aquino of Birch & Vine and Chef Tyson Grant of Parkshore Grill team up to create a five-course meal complete with pairings from partners of TBWFF sponsor Breakthru Beverage featuring Duckhorn Vineyards and a celebratory toast with premium Scotch whisky Glenfiddich 21 Year. ($200 pp)
This year’s “Experience Tampa” takes place on Thursday, April 10. 2025’s experience expands outside of the Hyde Park and Water Street neighborhoods to show more of Tampa’s popular culinary destinations.
The festival’s host hotel, The Epicurean has a dinner in their Epicurean Theater Kitchen hosted by Official Meat Purveyor, Meats by Linz ($225 pp). Chef Jon Antancio will prepare a ten-course tasting menu, which celebrates the art of fine dining plus he will be trying out new dishes to add to their menu this season. This intimate event features the finest cuts, perfectly paired with a masterclass on history and an aged portfolio of Glenfiddich Scotch Whisky, led by brand ambassador Lorne Cousin. Wine and spirits curated by Breakthru Beverage will also be included.
Meat Market make its return for a dinner where Owner and Executive Chef Sean Brasel joins Irvine and Desa for an exclusive five-course dining experience($350pp). Innovative dishes highlight Meats by Linz’s finest cuts and guests will enjoy unique wine and spirits pairings.
American Social presents a four-course dining experience by Corporate Executive Chef Ryan Leonard.($160 pp) His dishes will have pairings from Sazerac’s leading whiskey portfolio to include Buffalo Trace, allocated whiskey cocktails with Blantons or the equivalent, and American’ Social’s newest private label (soon to be announced).
The meaningful “Breaking Bread with Heroes” tribute event hosted by Irvine in partnership with his Robert Irvine Foundation, hosting sponsor Publix, and coffee partner Castaway Coffee happens on Friday. The invite-only breakfast honors the bravery and heroism of 200 attending veterans.
Nightfall begins the weekend main events, where Saratoga Spring Water serves as the Official Hydration Sponsor. The “Chef Showdown” competition is back with two new battle categories, Battle Surf n’ Turf hosted by Meats by Linz and Battle Smokehouse. Sixteen of Tampa Bay’s finest battle in showdowns including Fried Chicken, Seafood, Taco, Truffle, Pasta, Burger, Surf n’ Turf, Smokehouse. The event heats up with chefs from each battle taking the Publix Culinary Showdown stage for live demos of their dishes. Chef Irvine, whose Irvine’s Spirits line serves as the title sponsor, returns as the official Chef Ref, adding his signature energy and excitement to the high-stakes event.
The festival’s “Grand Tasting” finale event happens Saturday, April 12 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. It’s a culinary showcase featuring a diverse lineup of 40 new and returning restaurants, including Bouzy, Cru Cellars and Small Giant (from Cru Hospitality Group) Allelo, DeVito’s, Seminole Hard Rock’s Cipresso, Juno & the Peacock, Kona Grill, Liberty Smokehouse, Mad Beach Cantina, Meat Market, Mighty Quinn’s BBQ, Naked Farmer, Oystercatchers, Palazzo Pizza, Pluma Lounge, Riverside Terrace,Sculley’s Seafood, Six, Sugar Wing,Sunshine City Tavern, Tampa Burger, Tacos Las Californias, The Birchwood, The Tides Seafood Market, Wagamama, plus desserts from Oddfellows Ice Cream and Tanya & Matt’s Ice Creamiest.
To add to the fun, this year introduces the event’s Official Bank Partner and the newest host of the Best of the Fest Contest First Horizon. Guests cast their vote at the Grand Tasting for the Best Bite of the Day, crowning one restaurant as the ultimate champion. With a variety of flavors to sample, the Grand Tasting is the ultimate showcase of Tampa’s thriving food and drink scene.
“It has been highly rewarding to bring this festival to life and watch it grow into something truly special for Tampa Bay,” shared Valerie Roy, Director of Marketing and Client Strategy at CI Management, organizers of the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival. “Our production team and the talent at our incredible local restaurants have come together seamlessly to create an extraordinary festival experience that expands on previous years with new events, enhanced amenities and top-notch culinary experiences that reflect our region’s vibrant and diverse food scene. We couldn’t be more excited about how everything is shaping up this year.”
Tickets for Experience St. Pete, Experience Tampa, Chef Showdown and Grand Tasting are available now on the festival’s website. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit tampabaywff.com. Follow along on Instagram at @tampabaywff and on Facebook at @tampabaywff.
In addition to highlighting the area’s culinary talent, a pillar of the festival is to support the EAT SMART campaign, a 501 © (3) nonprofit program that provides healthy meals and nutritional guidance to the local community and Florida’s youth through programs in event destinations, local school systems and partner education non-profits.
Header photo c/o TBWFF