Drew Deckman

The Climb

The early line in Drew Deckman’s work runs through kitchens that reward precision and through regions that demand attention to source. Rhodes College sits at the start of that route, followed by Restaurant Vitus in Reinstorf, Germany, where the kitchen rhythm is exacting and the room for error is narrow. That discipline later carried into Mexico, where Deckman’s at Havana in San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, marked a larger shift: from cooking as a set of skills to cooking as a regional practice shaped by producers, place, and responsibility. Across Deckman's en el Mogor, 31ThirtyOne by Deckman's (since 2024), and the Seafood stand at Petco Park (since 2025), the work stays connected by method rather than format. Each setting asks for a different tempo and a different way of serving, but the through-line is consistent: place, season, and repetition carried with control. That range is part of the craft here. Deckman moves across rooms without losing the center of the work.

Today

Regional Governor for Slow Food International is the role that best reflects the structure behind Drew Deckman’s restaurants. The emphasis is on systems, community, and the network of people who make food possible before it reaches a plate. In that frame, the work extends beyond service and into the practices that support farming, fishing, cooking, and gathering. Valle de Guadalupe remains the clearest line through the career. In Deckman’s work, the region is not just a location; it is a working context that ties together ownership, sourcing, and daily decisions in the kitchen. That continuity gives the career its shape across multiple tables and formats. As Deckman puts it, “I think that what’s happening here is it’s sort of a holistic community, as far as the art of living well is concerned.”

In Their Words “I think that what’s happening here is it’s sort of a holistic community, as far as the art of living well is concerned.”

Recognition

Drew's honors include MICHELIN Guide Green Star, MICHELIN Guide Star, and MICHELIN Guide Star.