Chef Debra Ponzek

Debra Ponzek has received accolades for her innovative Provencal-inspired cuisine, her bold seasoning with herbs and her exquisitely light sauces. One of the top chefs cooking in America today, her food combines French tradition with an American perspective.

Debra graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1984. After cooking in top New Jersey restaurants, Debra was hired by Drew Nieporent as sous-chef at the then fledgling Montrachet. Ten months later, Debra was promoted to chef, a position she held for seven years and where she earned three consecutive three-star reviews from the New York Times.

Debra’s cooking quickly received wide acclaim in culinary circles. At the age of 28, she was selected one of the “Ten Best New American Chefs” by Food & Wine magazine. In 1990, Debra was named “Chef of the Year” by the Chefs of America Association, and a year later was the recipient of the coveted “Rising Chef of the Year” award by the James Beard Foundation. Debra was also the first American to receive the prestigious “Moreau Award” for culinary excellence from the Frederick Wildman and Sons Company.

In describing her culinary style, Debra uses two phrases—classic technique and flexibility. “The CIA gave me excellent training in classic French cooking and that has been the foundation of everything I cook today. But I have my own approach and I like to keep things simple, never fussy. There is a Mediterranean touch to my cooking as well. Whatever I prepare, I start with a bouquet of fresh herbs and vegetables. They inspire my colorful, aromatic combinations.”

Debra left Montrachet in June 1994 to move to Connecticut with her husband and open Aux Délices, a gourmet prepared food shop, café and catering business in Greenwich, Connecticut. Aux Délices Events, a full-service catering and event planning division, handles parties of all sizes, from corporate galas, fancy balls, grand openings and fund raisers to weddings, and private dinner parties. A second retail store was opened in downtown Greenwich in the Fall of 2000, followed by a third store in Darien in 2005.

Debra’s first cookbook, French Food, American Accent: Debra Ponzek’s Spirited Cuisine, was published in the Spring of 1996. Her second book, The Summer House Cookbook, was released in May 2003 to glowing reviews (“However gloomy or rainy the weather, a peek into ‘The Summer House Cookbook’…is like a ray of sunshine.” – Barbara Albright, Associated Press). Debra's latest cookbook The Family Kitchen was released in the spring of 2006 ("This family-friendly cookbook gets the whole clan into the kitchen to choose, prepare and devour tasty meals together." — Rachel Moser, Woman's Day)

Chef Ponzek’s numerous awards include Food & Wine magazine’s “Ten Best New American Chefs”, the James Beard Foundation’s “Rising Chef of the Year”, and the Chef of America’s “Chef of the Year”. Ponzek was the first American to receive the prestigious Moreau Award of Culinary Excellence from the Frederick Wildman and Sons Company.

Debra Ponzek has been the subject of articles in the New York Times, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, Fine Cooking, Elle, Metropolitan Home, Nation’s Restaurant News, Greenwich Magazine, Victoria Magazine, Food & Wine, Parenting, O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as numerous local and regional magazines and newspapers. Debra’s television credits include appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show, the CBS Morning Show, The Food Network with Sarah Moulton, PBS, Lifetime Television and others.

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