'Opening a business in your home is not for the faint of heart'

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Using limitations to his advantage is a key characteristic of chef Jan-Mitchell Avilés, who runs a restaurant out of his home in Houston, TX.

The Chef’s House is described as a culinary speakeasy, an exclusive and intimate dining experience offered every Friday and Saturday night with room for just eight people at the dinner table. It’s an experience that is hard to come by these days.

Opening this type of restaurant came with many challenges, as you can imagine, but Chef Avilés is on a mission to fill the cultural and social gap many restaurants just aren’t able to offer.

What were some of the biggest obstacles to opening a restaurant inside your home? 

I think the mental hurdle of doing something that no one has done before in your market was the most difficult part. Once I just "decided" and fully reconciled with the choice, the real work began. Opening a business of any kind in your home is not for the faint of heart.

How do you handle the logistics of plating and cooking food from a home kitchen? 

I am a very structured and methodical person by nature, and my sous chef is also very technical-minded. We took a few days to simply rearrange our storage and kitchen tools and have naturally had to evolve as time goes on. Now, we function like a well-oiled machine. It also helps that the kitchen design is segmented very well, so we can utilize the island as the pass and can keep the rest of the moving parts in their respective sections.

How does a home restaurant experience compare to dining at a restaurant?

For starters, our clients have the table for the evening and will never be rushed out. The typical restaurant experience is motivated by total covers, whereas we host one table per evening; this removes all the pressure to hurry guests along as they dine and really lets all parties lean into the experience fully.

Secondly, they get to enjoy an evening interacting with our entire staff in a very intimate and elevated way. Guests leave the evening feeling a strong connection to myself and the team, as we have been able to host them on a personal level that does not exist in the traditional restaurant environment. We are really trying to bring the sacrament of dining together in a home back into our culture.

What are some of the limitations of operating a restaurant from inside a home?

The key difference is that we are simply limited in space—space for more equipment, more storage and more seating! But we don't let these limitations affect our offerings or menus. We actually believe that this makes us even more innovative and creative with our menus, plating and overall presentation. We love a good challenge.

What advice do you have for someone who may be thinking of following in your footsteps?

If you want to start a business on your own terms, or in a way that hasn't necessarily been done before, you can't be afraid to get your hands dirty (figuratively and literally). You are the one that everything comes back to, so you have to be willing to shoulder the responsibilities, empower your team and keep pushing when you face difficult times. If you can keep hope for success alive in your mind, every other element will follow suit. 

Above: Behind the scenes at The Chef's House. (Courtesy of Instagram/ @visitensemble)

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