Along the way, he married and divorced, opened a French restaurant in San Antonio, split with his business partners, launched a cafe, went broke \u2014 \u201cdead broke,\u201d he emphasizes \u2014 recovered and found his groove in a French fusion restaurant that bears his name.<\/p>\n
Frederick\u2019s is one multi-flavored chapter of a travelogue that stretches from the Far East to Western Europe. The menu features French and Asian cuisine to go with a best-selling, Mexican-style parmesan cruster fish, a blend springing from a culinary family that carries French, Italian, Asian and Asian Chinese blood.<\/p>\n
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Frederick Costa, owner of Frederick\u2019s Restaurant. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a big melting pot,\u201d said Costa, who 15 years ago remarried a Puerto Rican woman.<\/p>\n
The battle scars of business and life do not show. Costa has smooth skin. A youthful smile. A full head of mostly silver hair. He looks younger than his 71 years. \u201cBut I feel it,\u201d he said with a thick French accent.<\/p>\n
Costa is a world-traveling restaurateur, the youngest of three brothers raised in the business by Henri and Odette Costa. The couple enjoyed an idyllic early marriage in Vietnam. According to Costa, they had 14 servants at home and managed a French restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1954, the year Costa was born, war broke out and Henri and Odette lost their restaurant, home and land. In 1956, Henri and Odette moved to Europe. The family relocated to Paris in 1969 and opened a Vietnamese restaurant that earned a Michelin star.\u00a0The culinary world held no appeal for Costa. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always tell my parents, \u2018I am never going to be in the restaurant business,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201c\u2018Never.\u2019 I was studying physical therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
A best friend from high school triggered the first turn of his heart. Theirry Burkle landed a job in Washington, D.C. and invited Costa to visit. The opportunity fulfilled a dream.<\/p>\n
In 1963, Costa watched news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on his family\u2019s black and white television in Bayonne, France. The tragedy marked him in an unexpected way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI say, \u2018I want to go to America,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cI have so much love for the guy. So much respect for this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seventeen years later, Costa\u2019s trip to the U.S. turned from visit to full-time job. He became a valet parker and salad boy at Rive Gauche<\/a>, a since-closed, elegant French restaurant\u00a0in Georgetown known for celebrity guests.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It was a favorite of JFK\u2019s before he became president, a gathering place for Beltway power brokers and Hollywood actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was parking Rolls Royce\u2019s at the time and getting $100 tips,\u201d Costa recalled. \u201cFrom there, I went to work in the kitchen. It was the most fancy restaurant. I used to wait on (Henry) Kissinger, Elizabeth (Taylor) Burton and Clint Eastwood.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1984, Costa gathered his parents\u2019 recipes from Vietnam and Paris and began a new venture. He and three chefs from Washington, D.C. \u2014 Burkle, Armand Obadia and Francis Perrin \u2014 moved to San Antonio, rented an apartment and planned an ambitious launch. One year later, they opened L\u2019Etoile, an upscale French restaurant in Alamo Heights.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we changed the cooking scene when we opened L\u2019Etoile,\u201d Costa said.<\/p>\n Costa, Burkle and Obadia later launched Powerhouse Cafe, a 22,000 square foot, three-level restaurant, private club and music venue at the Alamo Quarry Market<\/a>. The cafe folded in 1999 before it was fully completed, leaving the owners awash in debt, Costa said.<\/p>\n He left L\u2019Etoile and, despite the financial devastation, opened Frederick\u2019s in 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n How?<\/p>\n \u201cI borrowed money,\u201d Costa said, citing a network of deep-pocketed friends in Alamo Heights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Frederick-Costa-2025-3.jpg\")
Parmesan Cruster Fish of the Day with Avocado Relish from Frederick\u2019s Restaurant. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n