Benjy Levit (photo above, left) is owner and operator of Benjy’s in Rice Village, which launches its 20th anniversary party today. There’s plenty to celebrate at the restaurant, long liked for the farm-to-table menu served here even before the term was commonly used. Special attractions over the next two weeks of festivities include 1995 prices on the menu, 1995 uniforms on the waitstaff and 1995 soundtrack on the PA system.
Entrepreneurial by nature, Levit also has the Benjy’s on Washington Avenue, which opened in 2009, and in 2011 he partnered with chef Dylan Murray (photo above, right) to open gourmet sandwich shop Local Foods in Rice Village. The duo opened a second Local Foods at the corner of Kirby and Westheimer in 2014 and have plans for a third location to open in Tanglewood in 2016.
The native Houstonian graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991 with a degree in marketing before moving to Los Angeles – taking restaurant-management classes by night and selling ice cream novelties to supermarket chains by day. We recently caught up with Levit to ask him a few nosy questions about life and work.
Tell us how you came to the restaurant business.
After college, I enrolled in an evening class at UCLA in entrepreneurship. I wrote a business plan for a restaurant that had two distinctly different atmospheres under one roof: a restaurant on the first floor and lounge on the second floor. My professor encouraged me that if I were serious, I should quit my job (marketing) and start waiting tables for a restaurant that I respected. I followed his advice and began waiting tables for Houston’s in Los Angeles.
What was your earliest ambition?
To stand out – I was the last of six kids – and to be a people pleaser.
your education: University or straight into work?
University of Texas BBA in marketing, then the Natural Gourmet Cooking School, a vegan school in the Chelsea area of New York City.
Who has been your mentor?
Tony Vallone. My father set up a meeting for me to pitch Benjy’s to him. My father advised Tony to listen patiently but to tell me I was crazy. After Tony listened, he advised me to open a Jewish deli. After I explained I was vegan (at the time, but no longer), he told me to go for it. Boy, was my dad surprised when I told him how the meeting went!
In what place are you happiest?
Watching UT football with my family.
How physically fit are you?
I just try to keep up with my wife, Erica.
Your favorite food-and-drink pairing?
My mom’s chocolate cake (which we serve at Benjy’s) with Katz Coffee.
What is your favorite personal item?
Copper pots I bought with my wife on our honeymoon.
Your friends are coming to Houston and have never been before. What must they do while they’re here?
Check out what we’ve accomplished at Buffalo Bayou Park.