In yet another confirmation of St. Pete’s status as foodie central, the Sunshine City has earned a full trophy case full of hardware proving its culinary prowess. The annual Tampa Bay Food Fight took place last week at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and not only did Team St. Pete take home the Battle of the Chefs Championship, but downtown favorite Social Roost swept the individual awards categories.

TBFF is an annual celebration of local restaurants, as teams representing Tampa and St. Pete compete in the Battle of Chefs, pitting a group of executive chefs from each city against each other in a cook off voted on by James Beard Award-winning judges. This year, Team St. Pete was captained by Chef Susan Burdian of Social Roost, and she put together a team of Executive Chefs from the Tampa Bay Rays, Teak, Birchwood, Wild Child, The Hangar Restaurant, Caps Steamer Bar, and Crown & Bull.

Chef Susan and Team St. Pete were crowned victors over Team Tampa, captained by Chef Ann Kearny of Oak & Ola whose team consisted of the Executive Chefs from The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Counter Culture, On Swann, Edison Food Lab, and Cru Cellars.

And for Chef Susan and Social Roost, the accolades didn’t stop there, thanks to the food and drink served to the crowd. In the categories voted on by attendees, Social Roost took victory against countless other restaurants for the People’s Choice Award for Best St. Pete Restaurant and Best Tampa Bay Cocktail.

In fact, Social Roost made history that night, as there has been no other restaurant (Tampa or St. Pete) in the history of the event whose Chef Captained their team to victory, won Best Restaurant (St. Pete or Tampa) and Best Cocktail Tampa Bay. If you were looking for your excuse to make another (or a first) visit to Social Roost, this is it.

Tampa Bay Food Fight is an annual fundraising event, which this year amassed more than $600,000 for Metropolitan Ministries.