Who won the Food Fight? Top chefs from Tampa and St. Pete faced off last night (UPDATE: FINAL RESULTS)

Regional, shmegional! Last night, area top chefs set aside notions of cross-bay cooperation and fought instead for culinary bragging rights in the first Tampa Bay Food Fight. But it was all for a good cause: The event at downtown St. Pete's Coliseum raised $225,000 for Metropolitan Ministries, which feeds 75,000 meals to hungry folks each month locally and at partner sites around Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and Pinellas counties. Metro also preps at-risk students for restaurant careers through the Inside the Box Culinary Arts Program.

Volunteers from Inside the Box Cafe were on hand at The Coliseum along with 17 other Tampa restaurants, including Cena, Bern's Steak House and Mise en Place. Sixteen St. Pete eateries (St. Peateries?) took part, including Noble Crust, Birch & Vine and betterBYRD. Both sides served mini dishes for guests to nosh and vote on, and corner bars offered an array of cocktail samples that were also in contention. 

But the Main Event in this food fight took place, aptly enough, in a wrestling ring, with teams of top chefs from both cities facing off in three rounds, a mix of Iron Chef and World Wide Wrestling. WWE star Titus O'Neil shared emcee duties with BOTB winner DJ Fresh. Jeff Philbin, who repped Tampa recently on MasterChef, handled color commentary and interviews from the floor.

The chef-off drew an impressive lineup of participants. The Tampa team included Cena's Michael Buttacavoli; Chad Johnson of Elevage and Haven; Antoine Ludcen of Cask Social Kitchen; Robert Masson of 717 South; Richard Anderson of Oxford Exchange; and Fresh Kitchen's Ryan Mitchell. Team St. Pete consisted of Luke Decker of Birch & Vine; Matthew Brennan of Paul's Landing at the new Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club; Jeffrey Jew of Stillwaters Tavern and BellaBrava; The Mill's Ted Dorsey; and Parkshore Grill's Tyson Grant.

The judges were  heavyweights, too — Marty Blitz of Mise en Place, Mike Calta of 102.5 The Bone, Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe, and former Oprah chef Art Smith.

And the winner, after three rounds, was… Team Tampa by two points! 

As for the popular vote — the results of balloting on individual restaurant offerings — the winners of the People's Choice Awards were:

 1^st Place:  Cask  – Shrimp and Grits

2^nd Place:  Big Storm Brewery – Stuffed Piquillo Peppers w/chorizo, rice and Manchego aged cheese, topped with their house fermented daikon slaw and a drizzle of balsamic glaze

3^rd Place:  Noble Crust  – Chicken and Waffles 

Best Cocktail:  Haven  – "Strawberry Basil Punch": Tito's, Bacardi, lemon, sugar, strawberry, basil, yellow chartreuse, curaçao,  blanc vermouth, angostura bitters. 

Congrats to all!

This article appears in Oct 12-19, 2017.