Peli Peli on TV

Reality TV win hasn't translated into dollars for Houston restaurant — yet

Peli Peli partners chef Paul Friedman, Michael Tran and Thomas Nguyen appeared on Restaurant Startup Wednesday night.

Peli Peli Kitchen/Facebook

Upscale South African restaurant Peli Peli had a moment of reality show triumph Wednesday night when partners Thomas Nguyen, Mike Tran and chef Paul Friedman accepted a $1.25 million investment from celebrated restaurateur Elizabeth Blau during an episode of the CNBC series Restaurant Startup. The show featured the partners attempt to secure backing for their new fast casual concept Peli Peli Kitchen.

Blau's investment, the largest in the show's two season history, came after the Peli Peli team overcame various challenges posed by both Blau and Dallas chef Tim Love. During the broadcast, the competitors in the Shark Tank-style show had first bested a proposal from Dallas restaurant Full Circle to create a fast casual slider restaurant, then overcome Blau and Love's concerns that average diners wouldn't understand South African food.

As with all reality shows, the partners faced plenty of drama when tasked with creating a one day only pop-up restaurant on a $7,500 budget. Those issues ranged from concerns that Nguyen's menu description for prawns as "the pimp of shrimp" would be too confusing to a crisis with food taking too long to emerge from the kitchen while Friedman was visiting with diners instead of working the line. Ultimately, 95-percent of the 120 diners who visited the pop-up said they would return for another visit.

But the "happily ever after" ending wasn't meant to be. Text during the final credits revealed that Blau and Peli Peli hadn't been able to come to terms. Speaking to the 100 people or so who attended a watch party Wednesday night, Nguyen explained that Blau had concerns about the amount of debt the restaurant had taken on to open its second location in The Galleria.

"She said, 'clean up your stuff,' and that's what we've been doing," Nguyen said. "We need to clean up a lot of our mess before we accept outside investors."

The timing of the episode proved to be the biggest hurdle. When the filming took place in April 2015, the new location had just opened and wasn't producing revenue. Now that it's earning at the same rate as the original location in Vintage Park (revenue of approximately $6 million per year, making $1 million in profit), the business has been able to pay down its debt.

Nguyen tells CultureMap that the restaurant is still in contact with Blau, and he's optimistic they can get a deal done either with her company or another investment group.

With or without Blau's backing, Peli Peli Kitchen is slated to open this summer in Spring Branch. How quickly it grows will depend on whether the business can continue to generate revenue. That's just reality.

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meet the tastemakers

Houston's 11 best chefs of 2026 are leading the city's rise to prominence

Photo by Zachary Horst

Felipe Riccio, March.

We’ve reached the final category in the 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. These are the nominees for Chef of the Year.

This year’s nominees are an accomplished group. They hold Michelin stars and received Bib Gourmand designations. They are James Beard Award semifinalists, finalists, and winners. They’ve competed on Top Chef.

Of course they all serve consistently well-prepared dishes that keep diners coming back again and again. They’re also leaders and mentors who are guiding the next generation of cooks who will make their own mark on the dining scene. Many are involved in a number of local nonprofits, including I’ll Have What She’s Having and the Southern Smoke Foundation.

Who will win? Find out this Thursday, April 16, at the Tastemaker Awards party at Silver Street Studios. We’ll dine on bites from this year’s nominated restaurants and sip cocktails from our sponsors before revealing the winners in our short and sweet ceremony.

A limited number of tickets remain. Buy yours before they sell out.

Here are the nominees for Chef of the Year:

Benchawan Jabthong Painter, Street to Kitchen
The first Houstonian to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas, Chef G, as she’s known to friends and supporters, continues to make Street to Kitchen one of Houston’s destination restaurants. Regular travels back home to Thailand inspire new dishes on the menu, and G has also embraced her inner Texan with a rotating selection of steaks and chops. Her warm personality also sets the tone for the friendly service diners can expect at Street to Kitchen.

Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, Jūn
The two friends and business partners have come a long way since their days of serving meals under a tent at area farmers markets. Now, they’re James Beard Award finalists for Best Chef: Texas, Top Chef alumni, and they successfully spun up a daytime concept, Third Place, that hosts the city’s most intriguing roster of pop-ups. If that weren’t enough, they released debuted Loaded Potatoes, a new podcast that showcases their distinct perspectives on food and culture.

Felipe Riccio, March
As the leader of Houston’s one-star, Mediterranean-inspired tasting menu restaurant, Riccio leads the ultra-ambitious team that changes its entire menu twice per year. Not only does this effort require extensive research, training, and preparation, it only requires the discipline necessary to execute at a consistently high level to meet the expectations of diners who are fully aware of the restaurant’s lofty reputation.

Jassi Bindra, Amrina/Kitchen Rumors
Houstonians already knew Bindra could execute fine dining cuisine based on his success at Amrina, but the chef also showcased his adeptness with casual fare at twin concepts Bol and Pok Pok Po. He dialed up the creativity at Kitchen Rumors, bringing Indian flavors to everything from pot roast to ramen. Although his Top Chef experience came to an abrupt end in only this season’s second episode, he’ll remain a local chef whose future projects will always be worth sampling.

Lucas McKinney, Josephine's
Already a winner of Rising Star Chef of the Year, McKinney steps into Chef of the Year consideration after leading Josephine’s to a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide. The inspectors praises dishes like the crab fat rice bowl and shrimp po’ boy, but they neglected to include McKinney’s world-class crawfish. That just means more for us.

Manabu Horiuchi, Katami/Kata Robata/Sushi Horiuchi
Known to all as Hori-san, your favorite chef’s favorite chef is riding higher than ever. Katami, his ode to contemporary Japanese fine dining, quickly established itself as one of Houston’s most sought after reservations and earned the chef a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for America's best chef. More recently, he opened Sushi Horiuchi, a six-seat omakase counter that gives diners an even most personal experience. While diners should certainly engage with him about the dishes they’re eating, we also suggest asking him about his favorite karaoke songs.

Mayank Istwal, Musaafer
As the leader of Houston’s only Michelin-starred Indian fine dining restaurant, Istwal oversees an impressive restaurant that offers both a la carte and tasting menus. With Musaafer’s recent expansion to New York City, he’s also the only nominee to be dividing his time between two cities. Thankfully, he’s built a strong team who can ensure Musaafer remains consistent even when he’s in the Big Apple.

Nick Wong, Agnes and Sherman
Known for leading UB Preserv to a best new restaurant award from Texas Monthly, Wong returned to the kitchen with this Asian American diner in the Heights, which also earned best new restaurant nods from both Texas Monthly and finalist status in the James Beard Awards. The wide-ranging menu applies his unique perspective to everything from fried chicken and club sandwiches to egg foo young and pasta bolognese — made with Korean rice dumplings, natch. While his commitment to make Agnes and Sherman a good place to work is certainly worthy of respect, he deserves this nomination simply for introducing Houston to cheeseburger fried rice.

Shawn Gawle, Camaraderie
A former Pastry Chef of the Year winner for his work at Goodnight Hospitality, Gawle has been showing off his savory chops at this restaurant in the Heights. The restaurant’s prix fixe menu reflects the style of dining Gawle enjoys the most, where friends share a meal and conversation. Recently, the chef has been inviting guest chefs such as Rebecca Mason and Raffi Nasr in for can’t-miss collabs.

Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast
As the winner of Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards and a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide, Belly of the Beast no longer qualifies as a hidden gem. Still, Bille isn’t resting on his laurels. He added a tasting menu to Belly of the Beast’s offerings and continues to roll out new dishes that explore the intersection of Mexican flavors with other immigrant cuisines.

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The Tastemaker Awards ceremony is sponsored in Houston by Maker's Mark, Culinary Khancepts, Herradura Tequila, Ritual Zero Proof + Seedlip, Shutto, NXT LVL EVENT, and more to be announced. A portion of proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, the Southern Smoke Foundation.

Photo by Zachary Horst

Felipe Riccio, March.

tastemaker awards chefs