Downtown Tampa's Ebbe is hosting a multi-course Italian dinner with international chefs this month

Fine dining restaurant Ebbe has been quietly occupying the former Mole Y Abuela building at 1202 N Franklin St. for the past Seven months, and its first event of the year is right around the corner.

Ebbe hosts two installations of its exclusive Italian tasting dinner on Tuesday, Jan. 23 and Wednesday, Jan 24. The only reservations available range from 7 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and can be made on OpenTable.com.

Reservations cost $295 per person and also include Italian wine pairings.
In addition to  Michelin-starred Chef Vollmer, Italy-born Giorgio Diana, Sweden-based Mans Backlund, James Gilardi—who has worked at Ebbe since its 2023 debut—and an undisclosed Italian chef will contribute to the dinner's many courses.

Both Diana and Buckland have been regular participants in Vollmer’s Chef’s Dinner events, a worldwide dinner series that he's been hosting in different countries for over ten years.

“Embrace the exhilaration of culinary delights as these Master Chefs introduce you to an array of authentically spicy dishes, offering a tantalizing and daring twist to this already extraordinary dining experience,” the restaurant writes about its first specialty dinner of the year.

“My first ever job in the industry when I was 16 years old was at a modern Italian restaurant in London, so I really love the cuisine," 50 year-old Vollmer told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. "And when we hosted our first chef's dinner last year, some of my Italian friends weren't able to make it, so James and I decided to host a small, Italian-themed dinner instead."

While the expansive menu for his dinner isn't quite set in stone yet, Vollmer says that guests can expect at least 11 different dishes from appetizers and amuse-bouche to pasta-focused plates and desserts. Each participating chef is responsible for 2-3 courses throughout the night.

Vollmer explains that the dishes showcased at this month's dinner will greatly differ from what Americans may expect from Italian food and that he and the other chefs are challenging themselves to stray from "traditional" ingredients like tomatoes or basil, although Chef Gilardi is expected to pull some inspiration from his mother's cooking.

Vollmer quietly opened his fine dining concept on the outskirts of downtown Tampa last summer, and has garnered a regular customer base of both out-of-towners and lofty Tampeños alike.

The restaurant specializes in “fantastic Florida to essential Scandinavia-inspired dishes," which can be enjoyed throughout an 11-course tasting menu for $285 or five courses for $155.

Since specialty ingredients are sourced from local, Florida-based vendors or shipped in from Europe, Ebbe’s menu is constantly changing and can even differ from one day to another.

Although the newly-opened fine dining restaurant keeps a low profile on all social media platforms, you can always head to Ebbe’s Instagram at @ebbetampa to get a glimpse at the concept’s constantly-evolving tasting menus.
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