Roberto Ponce

The Path

Technique in Roberto Ponce’s career has been built through kitchens that demand repetition, pace, and control. Trained at Santo Tomás Santiago, he moved from chef at Astrid Gastón to Head Chef at La Mar, then chef at Tanta. Each post added another layer of service discipline, sharpening a working style shaped by movement across influential restaurants rather than by a single fixed house. That kind of role means helping a kitchen find its rhythm before it is fully settled, with attention to standards, cadence, and the practical systems that let service hold together. It is the work of building as much as cooking. Teaching sits alongside that operating experience. Roberto Ponce worked as profesor at Ecole, Escuela Culinaria Francesa, translating kitchen practice into instruction. He is also socio of Chifa Capón, keeping his practice tied to collaboration and the day-to-day realities of the trade.

The Work Today

At La Vinoteca, Roberto Ponce now serves as corporate chef, a position built around consistency and oversight. His own description of the cooking is plain: pairing, abundant food, tasty, honest ingredients, and a finish that is “not very sophisticated.” The language is direct because the food aims to be direct as well. Restraint is part of the method here. The work does not rely on ornament, but on ingredients that read clearly and combinations that support one another. In Roberto Ponce’s framing, the value lies in food that is generous, legible, and unforced, with pairing doing as much of the work as presentation.

In Their Words “The line of dishes is very closely linked with pairing, abundant food, tasty, with honest ingredients and not very sophisticated.” Those two lines place the emphasis where it sits in the work: on the plate, on the ingredients, and on time spent inside the profession. Eighteen years in gastronomy means a long accumulation of service, repetition, and adjustment, and the tone stays as direct as the cooking it describes.

Career - socio — Chifa Capón - chef — Astrid Gastón - Head Chef — La Mar - chef — Tanta - worked in the opening of — La Dicha - profesor — Ecole, Escuela Culinaria Francesa Education: Santo Tomás Santiago

Acclaim

Recognition here comes through range and continuity rather than display. Roberto Ponce’s path runs from Astrid Gastón to La Mar, from Tanta to the opening of at La Dicha, with teaching at Ecole, Escuela Culinaria Francesa and current work at La Vinoteca reinforcing the same pattern: steady involvement in the making and maintaining of kitchens. His standing is earned through time in the trade, not through flourish.

FAQ What is Roberto Ponce's current role? As of 2026, Roberto Ponce is Corporate Chef. Where did Roberto Ponce train or study? Roberto Ponce trained at Santo Tomás Santiago.