Renowned chef and culinary artist, Chef Sharon Masenda, has officially opened her own restaurant, 12 Tables Kitchen & Cafe on Main Street in White Deer, introducing a fine dining experience blended with small town atmosphere and hospitality.
Sharon placed herself on the map in the heart of the Texas panhandle as a kitchen alchemist, sharing her delicately crafted works of culinary art with the community through catered events, weekly meal plans, and private accommodations.
While it was a passionate pursuit and a dream realized, Sharon hit a point in her life where she felt she needed a change that made sense for her and her family.
“I was in a place where I needed to do something different. I loved being a private chef and I still consider myself a private chef, but it’s a constant thing of looking for work and I really needed something more sustainable.”
Throughout Sharon’s professional career, she built a network of satisified clients, customers, and friends, and one friend in particular offered her an opportunity she absolutely couldn’t refuse.
“I have a friend who lives in White Deer, Crystal Fouquet who has done so much for this community, and we’ve known each other for seven or eight years while I was doing what I was doing being a private chef and a recipe creator, and she took note of that. She approached me in the beginning of this year and said she had purchased this building which used to be the First State Bank, and she knew she wanted to put like a coffee shop or a bakery in here. She asked if I was interested, and I said if I’m going in, I’m going all the way in and it’s going to be a restaurant. Here we are about ten months later! It’s so surreal and easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done, the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken.”
“I never understood when people said, ‘you have to have faith, you have to let go,’ but this was exactly that for me. Every single thing I’ve done in my life, I felt like I had some aspect of control, but I’ve only had one catering in White Deer, knew nothing of the demographic or the area. I was really putting my trust in Crystal and her telling me people wanted this and they were ready for it. And then just trusting myself to be able to handle it. I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was 15 and I’ve been there to open other restaurants, but always from the point of view of whatever my position was, like server or line cook, never in the position of owner and chef.”
Although Sharon knew that she would be taking a leap of faith in owning and operating a restaurant in a town she was unfamiliar with, the White Deer community has shown their support since day one, and friends and patrons from all over the panhandle who have experienced and enjoyed Sharon’s culinary creations have come to sit and dine in at the new restaurant.
White Deer resident Eric Haiduk shared how he first met Sharon and expressed his excitement on her new endeavor.
“I’m an old widower who cannot cook, and I wanted to find somebody who would come to my house and cook supper. In that search, I found her catering business, and when my sister had an event, we thought we would try Sharon and it worked great, my whole family just loved it.”
Located at 220 S. Main Street, the building itself is historic, previously housing the First State Bank. Both vaults have been utilized as part of the restaurant, the marble top of the counter is all original, and the brickwork gives an old world charm to the establishment.
When it comes to the name of the restaurant, Sharon recalled the times she spent in New York dining at their many restaurants, noting a specific commonality between them.
“I actually came up with the name years ago. I am a New Yorker at heart and have spent a lot of time there, and one thing that always inspires me when I’m there is all the eateries which are usually very small, and there’s always about 12 tables. Since then, a lot of people have told me about the symbolism associated with the number 12, but it started with those little restaurants and their 12 tables.”
The menu is simple, yet elegant, featuring a chef’s lunch special that changes every day. Every menu item is made in house from scratch by the Chef herself, down to the fresh baked sourdough bread courtesy of Faith Rises Sourdough by Erika Jean. Jumping into this new endeavor prompted Sharon to hire some help in the kitchen, and while some things require a recipe, others require a personal touch.
“I don’t use recipes unless I’m baking. I always say this: baking is math, cooking is art. I just made an alla vodka sauce and it’s throwing things in until it tastes right. I can tell you the ingredients, but the rest is vibes. So I’m having to kind of figure that out, it’s a learning experience for me. I have two cooks who are culinary students at Pampa High School, and these two girls have been under my wing for two years now. They show up, they do the work, and they want to do this. This is a great opportunity for them because they’re young and they have so much time to learn so much that by the time they’re 21, they can be executive chefs. But the learning curve I have is most of my recipes are vibes. I have this girl on the deviled egg flights and her job is to prep the deviled eggs, but when we get to the point where it’s time to season the yolks and all that, I take the bowl and I’m doing the salt, pepper and seasonings. She asks, ‘well what’s the recipe?’ And I’m just like, ‘were you watching?’ There are going to be days I’m not going to be there and she’s going to have to do it on her own, but we’re going to build a recipe book for them to use. It’s just going to have to be my own personal journey that I go on.”
“But I also try to do things to empower them. Like this is yours and you know how to make this and make it right. She did a pumpkin waffle last weekend, and by Sunday, she felt like she had perfected it. That’s how it started for me. I was in the 6th grade and my specialty was breakfast burritos. Then I learned another thing and another thing, and before you know it, you’ve got Italian food on the menu one day and the next day you have something Cajun or Asian inspired because you’ve grown confident across all platforms, but you have to start somewhere.”
When opening her restaurant, Sharon had to take into consideration the work load she was willing to take on and try to find a harmonious balance between her work and home life, and admittedly it was met with some opposition.
“For anything that you’ve ever wanted to do, don’t let the idea of ‘well this is how it’s done and this is the way people do it’ stop you. It should be about how you should do it and how you can set yourself up for success in this endeavor. I had a lot of pushback for not being open for dinner, but I had to think about the quality of my life. If I don’t see my kids, say goodnight to them and put them to bed, that’s a trade-off I can make, I have to be there for my kids. I grew up in a house like that where my mom worked so hard, but she didn’t get home until 9:30 at night. Even as a kid, I knew I didn’t want that. I want to be able to show up to things that my kids are in. It’s not forever, but it’s a boundary I had to set for my own longevity, because I guarantee you if I had tried to do it at all, I would burn out within six months. I have to prioritize my children and everything else will line up because it always does.”
Sharon carries the wisdom and insight of someone well beyond her years, sharing that wisdom through her words, actions, and decision making.
“There are going to be so many people who want things out of you, but at some point, you have to think about what you want and how you want to live. What decision is going to be the best for my quality of life? Once you start making those decisions, and yeah, you might disappoint some people, but you will realize that you matter too. But those same people will end up being proud of you and know that you made the best decisions for yourself. For most of us, the first people we are going to disappoint in that way are our parents. I cannot stress this enough, but you can respectfully disappoint them, and I don’t mean to go off and do something horrendous. My dad wanted me to be a nurse. That’s all he wanted, he spoke it over me at a very young age, but I had no intention to be a nurse. He even knew what school I should go to and had this perfectly planned out path for me. But I didn’t want to be a nurse and ended up choosing something completely different. I went to the Art Institute and no one in our family had done that. He didn’t understand it and would call it ‘cooking school’ instead of Culinary School which drove me crazy. He was the first person I disappointed, but at the end of his life, he was probably one of the most proud person of me. I was walking in my own truth, and the way you walk in your own truth and your own decisions is when you’re living for yourself and no one else.”
Sharon is excited to go on this new journey, and because of her experience, talent, and discipline, opening up her restaurant feels like it was a long time coming, whether she sees it that way or not.
“Never say never. You have no control of where God calls you. You just go and be ready to go, and I hope everyone will come with me.”
12 Tables Kitchen & Cafe is open Wednesday through Sunday at 6 AM for coffee, 10 AM to 12 PM for breakfast, and 12 PM to 4 PM for the chef’s special. Sharon is still available for catering, just send her a message on Facebook through the 12 Tables Kitchen & Cafe page, and while you’re there, be sure to check out the daily menu.
