Celebrating The Era of Alba & Our Fifth Annual Chef Showdown

On September 26, we had the honor and delight of introducing and celebrating the newest member of the Sotherly family: Hotel Alba, located in the Westshore district of Tampa, Florida. We spent the evening ushering in the Era of Alba with signature cocktails, delicious food, and our fifth annual Sotherly Chef Showdown, a friendly competition between our fabulous chefs throughout the South.

The chefs competing to win it all in this year’s Showdown included Chef Michael Kubik from The Georgian Terrace in Atlanta, Chef Silvia Covarrubias at The Whitehall in Houston, Chef Mark Santiago at The DeSoto in Savannah, and Chef Brian Agoncillo at Hotel Alba. Each chef created a signature dish to present to a panel of hand-picked judges who then scored each dish on multiple criteria including flavor, ingredients, presentation, and creativity.

The incredible dishes from each chef included roasted shrimp with pimento cheese and a bourbon glaze by Chef Michael,  jalapeno boudin cajun wings by Chef Silvia,  pan seared scallops over creamed heirloom corn and andouille sausage with purple grit cake, squid ink tapioca crisp, and citrus foam by Chef Mark, and duck confit plantain nacho with avocado horseradish white barbecue sauce by Chef Brian.

After some time spent drinking and dining on our chefs’ incredible offerings, the judges tallied up their scores for each dish and crowned Chef Silvia from The Whitehall this year’s Chef Showdown winner!

We had the best time celebrating with our closest friends and family at Hotel Alba’s Grand Unveiling. As always, if you find yourself in any of our towns, we hope to welcome you with an ice cold drink and a delicious meal.

Chef Brian’s dish from Hotel Alba

Chef Mike’s dish from the Georgian Terrace

Chef Silvia’s dish from The Whitehall

Chef Mark’s dish from The DeSoto