A medium-shot, indoor candid photograph of two attendees enjoying hors d'oeuvres at the 'Meet the Chefs' event at The Vault in Tampa, Florida. On the left, a person with shoulder-length dark hair is wearing a deep magenta, long-sleeved wrap dress and holding a small black plate of food; they have a silver clutch bag draped over their arm. On the right, a person with long, dark wavy hair is wearing a colorful, sleeveless, floral-print dress with a low neckline and a small, bright pink handbag over their shoulder. Behind them, in the softly focused background, another guest is visible standing near a bar-height counter, and a stylized, dark-colored wall sculpture of a climbing figure is mounted on the light-colored wall. — Meet the Chefs at The Vault in Tampa, Florida on, June 12, 2025. Credit: Nick Cardello / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay Restaurant Month is in full swing and runs through June 30, offering special prix-fixe menus at nearly 60 restaurants and cafes across Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

To mark the occasion, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay—together with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater and Visit Tampa Bay—hosts two “Meet The Chefs” events, bringing readers and food scene supporters face-to-face with the bright minds bringing new energy to the local restaurant scene.

Pinellas’ Meet the Chefs event happens on Thursday, June 18 at The Birchwood in St. Petersburg.
Hillsborough’s Meet The Chefs event is on Thursday, June 25 at The Vault in Tampa.

The cocktail-style events include unlimited food and drink sampling, with a portion of proceeds benefiting Feeding Tampa Bay. Combo tickets for both Hillsborough and Pinellas Meet The Chefs events are available, too.

Almost 30 chefs are confirmed in the lineups, including Con Amor’s Taylor Dillon, Yanick Destine of Bulla Gastrobar, The Pearl’s Olivia Gieser, Mike Morales from Sunda New Asian, Bar Terroir’s Mac McKee, Felicia LaCalle of Quiote Tequilaria, Gerry Sizemore of CW’s Gin Joint, Cole Martinovich from The Helm, and more (see a full list via the Meet The Chefs 2026 bio page).

Another highlight on the Meet The Chefs lineup is Brian Lampe, Chef du Cuisine at the Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete Beach, who’ll appear alongside the resort’s sous chef Mitch McDermott. Together, they work on four concepts at the local staple including Pete’s Gulf Bistro, Coastal Pizza Kitchen, Playa Taco Taqueria & Tequila Bar, and Salty’s Beach Lounge

Lampe was in the crew when Tampa opened its now Michelin Bib Gourmand-earning Rooster & the Till restaurant back in 2013. Ascending to Chef du Cuisine at the pioneering local kitchen, Lampe influenced much of the menu, including Rooster’s revered Parisian-style short-rib gnocchi which has been a staple on the menu for more than a decade.

At Pete’s, Lampe’s crew offers a three-course menu of local smoked fish dip (complete with homemade spicy bread & butter pickles, haricots verts and cauliflower), a baby iceberg wedge salad (with smoked bleu cheese, heirloom tomatoes, buttermilk vinaigrette and Nueske bacon), and half-rotisserie chicken ($65/person).

During an appearance on WFTS’s Morning Blend, Lampe made “Anchorman” jokes, talked about his journey to the Tradewinds, showed off Pete’s Tampa Bay Restaurant Month menu, then prepped the ahi tuna nachos with cabbage, jalepeño, and poke sauce which he’ll serve during the Pinellas Meet the Chefs event happening July 18.

Lampe’s taken part in past Meet The Chefs events and told Morning Blend that he jumps at every chance to be in the lineup.

“There’s so many great restaurants in the Bay Area right now,” he said “This is a chance to maybe meet a chef or eat some food that maybe you might not go to in your daily life, so it’s a chance to get out there, experience new food, new chefs, new concepts. I think it’s really great for the community.”

Tickets to both Meet The Chefs 2026 events—happening at The Birchwood in St. Pete (June 18) and The Vault in Tampa (June 25) are still available and start at $92.96.

See a list of all the restaurants participating in the 2026 Tampa Bay Restaurant Month below.