We recently connected with Jan-Mitchell Avilés and have shared our conversation below.

Jan-Mitchell, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Ensemble began like most great endeavors, dreaming with friends around a dinner table. Born from a love of good food, good wine, and good company, Ensemble started with the goal of bringing community back to the city of Houston. Every part of who we are is encompassed in our name, which means together.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We launched our concept during the pandemic. There was such an intense, almost desperate need for community during such a lonely time – this was felt globally. For once, we could all empathize through our need for human connection. My wife and I decided to bring small groups of friends together to enjoy crafted tasting menus, undiscovered wines, and all in a discreet, ever-changing location. This evolved into friends of friends, and then to complete strangers. With word of mouth being our only marketing tactic, we have been able to enjoy organic growth. We have since created a home-base for Ensemble, however the address is unlisted to preserve the integrity of our experiences. Pioneering the culinary speakeasy culture of Houston has been an honor and a challenge. With a menu that changes monthly, and driven by serving the freshest and most beautiful ingredients, you can always rest assured you are experiencing the best. We love details and how every element creates a collective ambiance, which is why we personalize our guests’ experience from start to finish.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

So funny enough, my wife and I were our first and only investors for the first two years of business. When we pitched our concept to investors, quite literally every one of them told us “now is not the time to launch a concept in the food service industry” and due to shutdowns, fluctuating regulations, and the general unknown nature of the virus, it was completely understandable that investors didn’t want to take such a huge risk. To add fuel to the fire, we were starting the concept of “culinary speakeasy” that had not yet been done in Houston. So with no model to follow, we followed our hearts. We knew that if we could just have a chance to bring people to the table, they would tell their friends, and so on. So we took a chance, went to bank and took out a personal loan, and never looked back!

Any advice for managing a team?

Let me first begin by saying that we truly have the best staff in Houston. They blow us away every week, every dinner experience. Our secret? This is something we love to share with hopes that the service industry will follow our lead and foster healthier work culture. We have a very real goal of revolutionizing the toxic nature that too often defines our industry. Managing a team lives and dies on relationship. And we mean, real life, showing up to the dishwasher’s graduation and sitting next to grandma type of relationship. This is the only way to build real trust – and if you have trust, supplemented with a firm and direct vision of where we are going as a team, your staff will not let you down. And just to clarify, we don’t use terminology like “this is family” because we believe that actually showing up speaks far louder than any words can. The next ingredient to our secret sauce is sharing wins. WE believe WE have the best. Collectively, we know who we are. Our team identity is not defined by one, or the talent. We all equally play a critical role in the success of our concept, and while some jobs aren’t as flashy as others, we give a shit and show up to perform at the highest level possible. And WE are proud of our work!

Contact Info:

• Website: ensemblehtx.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ensemblehtx
• Facebook: facebook.com/ensemblehtx
• Other: www.exploretock.com/ensemblehtx

Image Credits
Images by: Dan Avilés Ivan Cortez José Rodriguez