International Focus Magazine Vol. 3, #3 | Page 34

The Peli Peli journey began when its first location opened at Vintage Park (Northwest Houston) in 2009 and its location at the Houston Gal- leria in 2015. Peli Peli Kitchen, a fast casual concept featuring South Afri- can-inspired comfort foods such as naan tacos, plates, burgers and sand- wiches, opened in 2016 and recently won Eater Houston’s award for “Best Fast Casual Concept” in 2017. When you order ‘The Tour of South Afri- ca’, your experience will first entail: Sauteed chicken livers in a Caccia- tore sauce for the first course in the appetizer category. The other award winning recipe called the Bobotie is the most popular as a layered spiced minced beef bottom cottage pie dish, inside is a carrot mash with potatoes, leeks, onions, cilantro, and finally mango chutney on the pastry top. A white flaky King Clip fish blackened, Chilean sea bass stuffed mushrooms in a spicy cream reduction sauce drizzled all over. A rice pilaf with- sauteed calamari, scallops & Peli Peli shrimp scampi. South African tiger palms shipped directly from South Africa. Portuguese inspired Espanada fillet is cut into medallions, garlic butter drips down into the Espanada from the top of the pole where there 34 iF Magazine | March 2018 are holes to allow the sauce to dance down as it soaks down into every crevice of the meat. All made with Chef Paul’s special spice concoctions that add a special layer to everything. New dishes on the menu have in- cluded a Capetown skillet, a stuffed Snapper dish & the grand brunch choice of a waffles and chicken duo! I got to see these the day they were introduced and see the customer’s pleasure first hand. I hear the Sticky Toffee pudding with vanilla bean ice cream is out of this world & they even gave vouchers for Chevron marathon racers to treat themselves with an entree purchase after the race! This is only one little example of their community contributions as they can be constantly found giving to organizations and not afraid to get their hands dirty participating in any culinary challenge! Co-Founder, Thomas Nguyen, who helped me with thus report says: “Peli Peli Kitchen was created to allow more people to experience our melt- ing pot of flavors, and we want our menu to reflect the diversity that you see here in Houston. It is our goal to create the most multicultural restau- rant in Texas.” Up next for Peli Peli includes a flag- ship location in downtown Austin at 3rd & Colorado next to the W Hotel and hopes to open by May 2018. An additional Peli Peli Kitchen is slated to open in fall 2018 in Houston. For more information visit www. pelipeli.com or follow the restau- rant on Facebook at www.facebook. com/peligalleria or Instagram at www.instagram.com/peli_peli. Peli Peli, with locations at 110 Vin- tage Park Blvd, Houston, TX, 77070 and The Galleria at 5085 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX, 77056, Cinco Ranch at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd and Peli Peli Kitchen at 9090 Katy Freeway, features South African cui- sine by Executive Chef Paul Fried- man. The restaurant has received numerous awards, including 2013 Chef of Chefs Award Winner at Wine & Food Week in The Wood- lands and Top 100 Best Reviewed American Fare Restaurants in the U.S. by Opentable®, among others. Both Peli Peli locations are currently ranked in the top 10 in Houston by TripAdvisor®.