Chef’s Table at the Edgewater and Tasting Room has been sold

The Chef's Table at the Edgewater and Tasting Room have been sold. 

Owners Laurie and Kevin Tarter are retiring and have sold the restaurant to Jim Larweth, who also purchased the Edgewater Hotel.

The Tarters have owned the Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel since 2008. 

"When we opened in 2008 with our tiny space of 30 seats and nine tables, we could have never imagined growing to almost 200 seats with two restaurant concepts, serving from the original tiny kitchen," Laurie Tarter posted on Facebook. "Over the years, our restaurant proved to be so much more than a business to us and to our guests. It has become a setting for countless first dates, anniversaries, birthday celebrations, business dinners, fundraisers and family dinners. We have shared in your celebrations and milestones and hope that you will now celebrate our milestone of retirement."

She said they are profoundly grateful for the community's support and loyalty for almost two decades. 

The Chef's Table won its first award in 2008 for Best New Restaurant in Orlando. In 2025, the restaurant won the Joseph Hayes Legacy Award. 

Alicia Havard will continue to run the operation as general manager, and Executive Chef Djeff Alverseau will continue to lead the back of the house operations. 

Tarter said all reservations and gift cards will be honored as the Chef's Table and Tasting Room still will be operating business as usual. 

The Tarters also plan to sell their sister restaurant, the Attic Door, in 2026. A buyer for the restaurant has not come forward yet. 

Tarter said Larweth has been following the restaurant since 2008 and has dined at the restaurant numerous times. 

"We were excited after meeting Jim Larweth and hearing his excitement in continuing the legacy that we have built, and we know he will make all of our dreams of the many things we wanted to do with our restaurant space come true," she said in the Facebook post.