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Anton Rodriguez
The Chef's Table at KOL
By Ed Avis
Does a chef’s table make sense for your restaurant? It’s a question more and more restaurateurs are asking as they search for ways to stand out from the crowd in today’s challenging culinary marketplace.
A chef’s table is one way to do just that. Typically located inside or near the restaurant’s kitchen, it gives guests the chance to bask in special attention from staff and watch what’s happening in the kitchen, too.
According to the Michelin Guide, the idea for a chef’s table emerged from the practice of chefs letting friends or family sit in the kitchen during regular business hours, giving them an intimate view of the working kitchen and sometimes enjoying off-menu cuisine. Eventually, enterprising restaurant owners realized people would pay for that special experience — and today’s chef’s table was born.
Three Restaurants, Three Approaches
Chef’s tables are found in many Mexican/Latin restaurants, particularly upscale restaurants. But they’re not all the same, either in where the table is located or the dining experience.
The chef's table at dLeña is a banquette
At dLeña, a modern Mexican restaurant in Washington, DC that is part of Chef Richard Sandoval’s portfolio, the chef’s table is four-top leather banquette tucked behind the bar. Diners have a great view into the kitchen and are served an eight-course meal at $160 per person plus a $90 wine or cocktail pairing.
dLeña’s chef’s table offers two seatings nightly, Tuesday through Saturday. The experience includes a special menu that changes seasonally and offers dishes that are somewhat more sophisticated than those on the regular menu. Current delights include charred avocado with green apple relish, chile de arbol, peanut purée, purple watercress, and arbequina olive oil; scallops ceviche with lychee aguachile, cucumber, mango, and smoke trout caviar; and cordero a la leña, grilled lamb rack, arbol chile-bean purée, plantain, house-made mole.
The chef's table at Valle is in the kitchen
Across the country, Valle in Oceanside, California offers its Chef’s Table Experience inside the kitchen. Guests sit at a counter directly facing the staff and are served a “unique tasting menu celebrating the finest selection of the season's offerings,” according to promotions about the experience. The counter accommodates up to six guests. Valle holds a Michelin star and the chef, Roberto Alcocer, is a semifinalist for the James Beard 2025 Best Chef Award, so it’s no surprise that chef’s table guests are willing to pay a premium for the experience: $350 per person, plus add-ons.
And abroad, at KOL in London, the chef’s table experience unfolds in a private dining room inspired by the grand houses of Oaxaca. The space, which can accommodate up to 20 diners, overlooks the kitchen, where a dedicated team of chefs prepare dishes that allow diners to explore tasting menus of the elevated Mexican cuisine at lunch and dinner.
While chef’s tables normally are found in these kinds of upscale Mexican restaurants, the concept could be applied to any restaurant whose customers are interested in enjoying a more intimate dining experience and more focused attention than they can get in a regular visit.
Here, Chef Santiago Lastra, co-owner of KOL, shares his experience in offering a chef’s table with el Restaurante readers:
Why did the founders of KOL decide to include a chef's table as part of the restaurant?
Rebecca Dickson
Chef Santiago Lastra
Before opening KOL, we used to have a test kitchen in west London, where we developed the first dishes of KOL for almost a year. During the design process, we explored many concepts and distributions for KOL. In the end, it made sense to keep a space where we could continue with the R&D of KOL and share our food with bigger parties. How often is the chef's table occupied?
It depends on the season, but in general, quite often, we do between four and six private events a week, including lunch and dinner. We always recommend the space for 12+ people; however, there have been cases when we have had guests come with smaller parties and have the best time. The maximum we can accommodate in the room is 20 people. It’s an amazing atmosphere when the room is at maximum capacity.
Tell us about the experience customers receive at the chef's table.
The chef’s table set-up and ethos are similar to the main restaurant; it’s designed for you to feel at someone’s house in the south of Mexico. The kitchen is close by, and we always encourage people who are interested in cooking to go in and say hello to the chefs. As the chef’s table works on a private hire basis, it gives us the opportunity to curate the experience for the party as much as we can. We want to make every experience special in its unique way.
Do you find that the customers who reserve the chef's table are people celebrating special occasions, or just “foodies” who relish the experience?
We have a bit of a mix, but it’s definitely more of a celebration space. We host birthdays, engagements, graduations, and Christmas parties. We do have people who convince their big group of friends to join them for a big dinner, too.
What have you learned about operating a chef’s table that you wish you had known when you launched it?
When we first launched the chef’s table, we had a different menu than the restaurant, with new ingredients and ideas coming up every day. It was hard to operate and even harder to explain to the guests what the concept behind it was exactly. I think simplicity is the highest form of sophistication and being clear to guests on what our offering is and what’s the value in it.