Deborah VanTrece

The Climb

Modern soul food is the working grammar of Deborah VanTrece at Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours in Atlanta. The plates carry memory without freezing it in place, which is the point: tradition stays active when it is handled as a method, not a museum piece. That balance of instinct, polish, and business sense is what gives her cooking its register. Training at the Art Institute of Atlanta sits in a larger path that also includes the University of Missouri, flight attendant work, and the founding of Edible Art in Atlanta. Those stops shaped range and control across service, movement, and kitchen discipline. Deborah VanTrece later founded Serenidad in Cascade Heights, Atlanta (2022–2023), extending that same approach into another room and another audience. Today, Deborah VanTrece is chef and restaurateur of Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours (since 2016), founder of VanTrece Hospitality Group, and chef and restaurateur of Oreatha's at the Point (since 2022). Read together, those roles show a career built across multiple concepts and neighborhoods, with soul food as the throughline and a clear operating sense behind the work.

Today

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, Deborah VanTrece works in modern soul food. The category is not treated as fixed; it is widened through technique, calibration, and attention to balance. Comfort remains present, but it is shaped with enough precision that the food lands as current rather than nostalgic.

Signature

Deborah VanTrece's signature dishes include Hoisin-glazed oxtails, Duck schnitzel with sweet potato waffles, and Sweet tea baby back ribs. The range is deliberate: familiar forms reframed with a controlled hand, moving between sweetness, savor, and texture without losing the structure of the plate. The work stays rooted in recognition while leaving room for surprise.

In Their Words “Food is a universal language. Through my restaurants, I invite the world to experience how soul food bridges cultures and tells our shared stories.” The statement aligns with the way Deborah VanTrece uses restaurants: as dining rooms where memory, difference, and connection can sit on the same table. That makes hospitality part of the craft, not a layer added on after the cooking. The food carries the technique; the room carries the exchange.

Recognition

It fits a profile built on discipline and steady execution, qualities that tend to matter as much as creativity when a body of work has to hold over time.