A PROUD port city that has turned to tourism to help bring renewed vigour and focus, plus better restaurants, a reborn river and tourist attractions. Sound familiar? This, though, is not Glasgow, but Tampa, an emerging city break star on Florida’s Gulf of Mexico.

The rise and rise of Tampa is clear as soon as I arrive with news that a fourth cruise terminal is about to be built; such is the demand to cruise in and out of Tampa and discover the city. For decades, Tampa was content to sit in the shadows behind Miami. No longer.

At the heart of Tampa’s renaissance has been its brilliant foodie scene. Michelin only started awarding Tampa stars in 2022 and it hasn’t stopped since, with five Michelin-starred restaurants this year, including two newbies. Local foodies are even hoping Kōsen might soon be in the running for a rare two-star award.

I’m not able to dine at any of the starred restaurants, but I still try out a sweep of the Michelin-recommended options. The stand out is Noble Rice. This slick Japanese restaurant manages to snare its top-notch tuna from Tokyo’s famous fish market as the owner has spent time there building relationships.

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The tuna is excellent, as is the sushi and the melt-in-the-mouth American Wagyu ribeye. If you’ve time for a treat, they offer a seven-course Omakase and a 15-course “Grand Tasting” Omakase – a chef’s choice bonanza.

“Tampa is a real mixing pot of cultures and nationalities and that is reflected in our eclectic restaurants,” explains Mary of Visit Tampa over breakfast at Oxford Exchange. The space is a microcosm – a brilliant bookshop, champagne bar and restaurant that does the best brunches in the city. I highly recommend their French toast, with chunky cinnamon swirls bathed in maple syrup and fresh fruit. I’ll be trying to make their whipped feta dish at home too.

(Image: NQ)

Psomi, meanwhile, has a Greek owner who insists that the breakfast and lunch baking (they don’t open for dinner) is done onsite. Their salmon bagels are a delight, with sustainable wild fish used. It’s the sort of place where you want to linger a while, chat with staff and just enjoy the superb food and coffee. It’s very Tampa.

At Ulele – a name deriving from the indigenous Seminole tribes that used to live here long before European settlers – I try their excellent craft beers and local alligator. The latter is actually delicious and the waiter explains it’s farmed and sustainable too.

They pride themselves on digging into local produce and weaving the traditional into the modern.

The waiter is also proud of his city: “Miami and Orlando do their thing, but we stay 110% Florida. Tampa is a great city for eating out these days.”

Just outside, I join the River Walk, the 2.6-mile landscaped trail along the Hillsborough River that connects the Armature Works foodie market and the reinvented leisure hub of Sparkman Wharf.

I fall in love more and more with Tampa with each step along a trail that opens up a city that has thrown itself into its reinvention.

I then catch a Pirate Water Taxi ferry back upriver. The boat’s guide talks of new money and new blood, with New Yorkers and Californians moving here for “less taxes, more sunshine and less restrictions”. We ease by gleaming skyscrapers and plush mansions with their own speedboats moored by their swimming pools. There are alligators, dolphins and – that most special of Florida’s creatures – a manatee.

The imprint of man is strong alongside the wildlife. At the Tampa Bay History Center, I unearth 9000 exhibits that reveal 2000 years of local history, dating back to the Tocobaga Native Americans who first settled on Tampa Bay.

I learn of the “Scottish chief” James McKay and the ship that bore his name, a blockade runner during the American Civil War. He eventually rose to become and thrive as Tampa’s mayor.

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I take a literal ride into history on the old free streetcar that trundles into the heritage district of Ybor City. It’s named after 19th-century cigar magnate Vicente Martinez Ybor, who brought thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy, creating an eclectic culture that is proudly on show today. Once the world’s cigar capital, today Ybor City is now a buzzing entertainment district.

I take Ybor City’s pulse at the Columbia Restaurant, the oldest and largest Spanish restaurant in the United States, founded back in 1905. Opened to cater for cigarmakers by Casimiro Hernandez, Sr, it is now in the family’s sixth generation.

Bedecked in intricate Spanish tiling, it’s a deeply atmospheric spot for dinner, especially when a live flamenco show unfolds in front of my table.

As I make my way back down the Ybor Channel towards the city centre, I snatch glimpses of the sprawl of waterways that first – like Glasgow – put this proud city on the global map.

If Tampa had chosen just to focus on its port and heavy industries, it would be half the city it is today. Instead, it’s an utter joy to visit and throw yourself heartily into.