“When I create, I’m creating things that you can’t come here and say you’ve had this somewhere else before,” Friedman said.
The Chef’s Table serves food inspired by dishes Friedman grew up eating in South Africa as well as those he came across on his travels around the globe, he said. Jerk snapper, chicken Florentine and Vlees Pastei are highlights of the restaurant’s menu, Friedman said, which also boasts cocktails and desserts, such as passion fruit creme brulee.
Friedman said he started out in the industry washing dishes in his cousin’s restaurant, eventually owning dozens of restaurants in South Africa and the U.S. Now closed, Peli Peli in Vintage Park was Friedman’s most recent Houston-area endeavor, though he left the restaurant in 2018.
In late 2020, however, Friedman decided to return to Vintage Park with a new concept—The Chef’s Table. Friedman said he still treasures the 14 months he and his son spent together renovating the space into a 1920s-style art deco restaurant.
“I feel like the time that I lost raising him I got back,” Friedman said.
At almost 69 years old, Friedman said he does not want to expand The Chef’s Table into multiple locations. Instead, he hopes to achieve a culinary honor such as a Michelin Star or a James Beard Award.
Even if Friedman does not one day earn the awards he covets, he said he is happy with the atmosphere he has created at The Chef’s Table.
“It’s enjoyable to come to work every day because this is our family and we love what we do,” he said. “That, I really feel, ... [has] given me a lot of joy, a lot of happiness, and knowing that I did the right thing by coming back and starting over.”
The Chef’s Table
110 Vintage Park Blvd., Bldg. J, Ste. P, Houston
832-559-7489
www.chefstablehouston.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
