To date, Orlando’s own chef Henry Moso is the only James Beard Award finalist who’s had an answer at the ready when I ask my regular tongue-in-cheek question, an homage to Joan Rivers on the red carpet more than anything else.
“Who are you going to wear to the ceremony?”
Louis Vuitton was Moso’s answer.
Bryce Bonsack, executive chef of Tampa’s Rocca, Michelin-starred since 2023, is caught flat-footed, and I am not surprised.
About a month earlier, an unshaven Bonsack showed up tableside in a trucker cap to sauce my dry-aged Rohan duck, a $155 stunner of a special that sells out in the first 20-30 minutes every single night.
The Best Chef: South finalist chuckles at my fashion query.
The ceremony, which will be held June 15 at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House, was three weeks away at the time.
“I need to get a tuxedo or something and look as sharp as I can because I usually dress like Florida Man,” he tells me.
Actually, he kinda is Florida Man.
Bonsack is a native Tampanian, one whose cooking career took him from Hyde Park’s Culinary Institute of America to top-tier restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Blanca and Corton in New York City. He trained for a year in Italy, crafting pasta in the country’s Piemonte region and has staged throughout Europe.
But then he came home.
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He had just returned from a stint cooking in Guatemala and was considering a job at Thomas Keller’s iconic French Laundry in California when serendipity connected him with Nick Reader and Jack Murray, who would become his partners in Rocca, a Tampa Heights venture that did something few Michelin-selected restaurants manage: it went from a Bib Gourmand designee in its first year to getting a star in its second.
“It’s just so odd,” he admits, noting his experience working in Michelin-level restaurants, and Rocca’s overall “weirdness” amid Florida’s fleet of starred tasting counters.
“Almost every Michelin-starred restaurant is a tasting menu-only restaurant, and we’re only a la carte, and I think there’s maybe 10 Italian restaurants in the country that have a Michelin star.”
I’m no inspector, but that duck dish alone is worthy. And they only do about eight a night.
My early reservation, combined with a thoughtful server who told me there was only one left as I perused the menu, was the sole reason I was able to partake. Guests can reserve these ahead of time, by the way, regardless of their reservation time. Bonsack tells me they keep one or two open for the early birds. On my visit, I was one lucky duck.
“It’s by far the most labor-intensive dish we do,” says Bonsack.
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Each dries for about three weeks in the walk-ins, which staffers call “The Quack Shack.”
Quickie math: Eight ducks a night times seven nights a week times three weeks in advance?
“That’s a lot of ducks hanging.”
Our table neighbors, a couple who drove an hour for dinner, told us they’d already made a reservation to come back and have their own after Bonsack left us to the gorgeous platter.
The bird’s wings, neck and bones become the base for a stock, which turns to sauce over a three-day reduction process while the breasts and legs are confited. Excess fat winds up in the polenta it comes with. As it slow roasts, the duck’s skin becomes crispy. It shines like glass.
“We serve it with the sauce and a generous portion of foie gras, because why not?!”
Why not, indeed.
And why not get the $49 tableside mozzarella cart, as well?
A hit since day one, it’s become a signature every guest talks about, says Bonsack.
Tomatoes from Plant City are gorgeous, deep and dark. Aged Balsamic is sweet and tangy.
Bonsack, who often balks at tableside prep — “the cheese wheel pasta thing makes me cringe” — says they’ll never be able to take it off the menu.
It was inspired by long hours in Blanca’s kitchen, doing prep alongside staffers at its sister restaurant, Roberta’s.
“There was a guy who was there every morning, stretching like a hundred pounds of mozzarella right next to me,” he says. “I was a broke line cook, starving, so I’d pinch off a piece of warm mozzarella as he was stretching it, and it was a very unique thing.”
It can really only happen tableside to enjoy that effect, he says. The cheese will seize up not long after. But in those moments, as you enjoy it, it’s a living, breathing course.
“It makes the guests feel special,” he says. “And that’s what hospitality is about.”
Bonsack’s hospitality extends to Orlando chefs on the reg, Michelin- and James Beard-recognized faces among them. Including the stylish Moso of Kabooki Sushi and Mosonori.
His GQ vibe notwithstanding, it was Bonsack whom Moso called when he was looking to up his pasta game. Not long ago, Moso spent time with Rocca’s team in the kitchen getting up to speed.
“He’s eaten here like 20 times,” Bonsack tells me.
Perhaps Bonsack can take some fashion tips in trade.
Rocca: One Michelin Guide star; average price per person: $100; 323 W. Palm Ave. in Tampa, 813-906-5445; roccatampa.com
Gorkhali Kitchen
The slow-cooked goat curry at Tampa’s Gorkhali Kitchen is a transcendent study in tradition when it comes to Nepalese cuisine, and its lingering flavor is so welcome that you might not even want the delicious, long-simmered rabri as its sweet, cooling dessert chaser.
But the rustic goat fry, its flavors concentrated, its meat ridiculously tender but with a skosh of crispy, is just as wondrous.
Sans gravy, the onions, garlic, ginger and spices elevate the flavor of this protein. It’s a common one for this, a nation with one of the most dramatic altitudinal ranges in the world and — lesser known to most people — some of the most flavorful food, as well.
I have not had such tender goat, in fact, in remotely recent memory.
There are many similarities between Indian and Nepalese cuisines in terms of spices and ingredients, and this breeds familiarity.
Several families, large and small tables, multigenerational, have rolled in since my early-side pop-in on a Saturday night. Grandparents dote on children in strollers, plates are passed, the energy is casual, happy, warm.
The beer, however, a large-format Barahsinghe pilsner from Nepal, is cold. A light, easy-drinking beer if ever there was, and a dynamite pairing for the richly spiced curry and everything that comes before.
Gorkhali Kitchen has enjoyed greater renown since making the Florida Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand roster in 2023, a distinction that highlights restaurants serving high-quality food at great value. Approachable cooking methods are often notable, too.
Chef Rajesh Pathak and his team offer quadruple servings of both, and have enjoyed serving the broader audience that the Michelin Guide has brought to their modest, strip-mall door, where a chalkboard sign outside invites guests to “visit Nepal without a passport.”
“It’s a tremendous honor and recognition of the quality, consistency and authenticity of our food,” Pathak tells me.
“As they say, ‘Attaining it is the easier part, maintaining is the art.’”
Gorkhali Kitchen retained its Bib Gourmand in this year’s reveal ceremony on May 28, and though it saddens me that Orlandoans will have to hoof it to the outer reaches of Tampa to try his food (especially considering his exceptional Dancing Yeti was one of the absolute stars of the Great Southern Box Company food hall in Orlando’s Packing District before shuttering last summer), but the menu here is extensive and deeply satisfying for those looking to explore this cuisine on a more intimate level.
Pathak was my sherpa, recommending dishes that would give me a sense of what a native of Kathmandu, like himself, might order.
Alongside the goat fry ($19, on the small plates section of the menu), the bhanta bo karua ($12), a staple in the Terai regions of Nepal, features light, crisp fried eggplant, coated in richly spiced chickpea flour and served with a tomato-cilantro sauce.
Chili momo, stuffed with chicken, are alive with heat but beautifully balanced in flavor.
“It’s the unofficial national food of Nepal,” he jokes. Makes sense, though. Nobody doesn’t like a dumpling. And these, fried and tossed in this savory sauce of peppers, onions, garlic and spices, are among the most popular dishes on the menu.
Pathak’s stateside journey began with college in the Washington, D.C., area and the consulting career that followed, but what started as a job opportunity in Central Florida turned into something personal.
“I fell in love with the Tampa Bay area, its diversity, energy and strong sense of community,” he says. “Over time, it truly felt like home, which is what inspired me to put down roots here and eventually become involved in the local restaurant scene.”
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Nepalese communities in New York, Virginia, Texas and California, says Pathak, are larger, so communities in these places have more opportunities to sample the cuisine.
“In Florida, though, it’s rare.”
And Tampa’s Gorkhali Kitchen is the pinnacle.
Gorkhali Kitchen: Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand; average price per person: $20-30; 10044 Cross Creek Blvd. in Tampa, 813-388-6404; gorkhalikitchentampa.com
The Tides Seafood Market & Provisions
Safety Harbor sits just across Old Tampa Bay, blocks from its gently lapping waves.
It is here that The Tides, Michelin-recommended since 2025, lies tucked amid shady trees on the main drag of a Florida burg that’s about as picturesque as one can be.
Run by the husband-and-wife team of Mary Kate and Jon Walker, its expansive interior dining room and market give way to a verdant patio out back where umbrellas shade the tables, and a beautiful whale shark mural and fence adorned with sea life pyrography encapsulate this seaside excursion that drags Florida through a garden tinged with the New Orleans feels of its owners’ roots.
Case in point, the exceptional oyster po’boy ($24), with fat bivalves reminiscent of whole belly clams piled high on a Leidenheimer roll alongside salady slaw. And speaking of oysters, there’s a whole menu from which to choose. On this day, an oyster shooter ($10) allowed for a bracing sampling of the house bloody mary (Pow! 10/10 recommend) while cucumbery Shigokus from Washington barely edged out the briny Calusas from right there in Tampa for the win.
Only barely, though.
Come The Tides’ super popular happy hour, two choices from Virginia — high-brine Buckwilds and bright, fresh Smith Points — were the stars at $1 each, sold on icy platters of 6 or 12 from 4-7 p.m. We couldn’t say no, though, to the stellar, sesame-laden tuna tartare ($18) with avocado on housemade kettle chips.
The banana puddin’ and maple pecan bread pudding were calling hard, but seal-level consumption had taken its toll.
Until next time, Tides Market. Nona Slice House, a favorite up the street, now has some serious competition for my attention.
The Tides Seafood Market & Provisions: Michelin Guide-recommended; average price per person $20-30; 305 Main St. in Safety Harbor, 727-699-8433; thetidesmarket.com
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
