The District Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1, 2016 | Page 15

Executive Chef, Michael Buttacavoli,

better known as Chef Michael at CENA, a restaurant in the
Channel District. I had the pleasure to sit down with the Chef and
peel back the onion in a one on one interview. You may know
him as the former Chef de Cuisine with Sidebern’s, Bern’s Steak
House, Boca or his previous position as the chef at Hard Rock’s
Council Oak. What you may not know, his compass started
out on the path of becoming a chiropractor. Lucky for anyone
that has been fortunate enough to enjoy his culinary skills, he
changed his direction while working at a local Chili’s and went
on to culinary school. Today, Chef Michael is delivering Five Star
Dining in the Channel District. I have yet to experience anything
less than amazing at CENA. My first visit, I chose to only order
desert. If an Italian restaurant has fair to bad tiramisu, it’s my
signal to stop with the desert. They knocked it out of the
park. CENA belongs on your “GO TO VISIT” list if you’ve never
been and after, it will become part of your regular restaurant
rotation list. I asked Chef Michael to describe himself in one
word but in all fairness, it took me several: humble, generous,
adaptable, hardworking, considerate, creative and easygoing.
My suggestion, go see for yourself.

CONTINUE TO Q&A
THE DISTRICT - TAMPA’S URBAN DWELLING MAGAZINE

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