Translated from French, délices mean “delight” or “delicious,” and aux délices is said to express “what a treat!” This café and catering business has been treating our town for decades now. Celebrating its 30-year anniversary this month, Aux Délices epitomizes the term “everyday gourmet,” having grown over the years to four locations (Riverside, Greenwich, Darien and Westport) as well as The Café at the Bruce Museum. Aux Délices has thrived by evolving over time while retaining its classic appeal and by simply providing top-quality, home-cooked dishes. Not many places can claim to be simultaneously people’s go-to spot for coffee (or that addictive ginger tea) and healthy meals on the go, while also being the caterer that launched a thousand holiday feasts and weddings. Aux Délices has filled that spot for us, serving up stylish food that may be the best culinary shortcut around.
How do they stay so popular?
“We’re always trying to improve things whether it’s just the food or looking for ways to innovate,” says Debra Ponzek, who co-founded the company with her husband Greg Addonizio; both are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. When they first opened the shop in Riverside, it was an opportunity for the couple to work together in a food business that’s more conducive to raising a family than working as top chef at a Manhattan restaurant.
The perfect spot to grab a coffee or the famous ginger tea with your four-footed friend • Chicken Milanese • Upstairs at the Riverside location offers plenty of dining space.
With roots in French cuisine, Debra was the executive chef at Montrachet in New York, where she received the James Beard Rising Star Award in 1992 before leaving to start Aux Délices. Her French culinary expertise was showcased in the early days of Aux Délices, but soon, “we molded our menu around what our customers wanted,” Debra says. “You have to get out of just cooking for yourself. Coming in as a chef—we always laugh about this—we had in the cases on a Tuesday rack of lamb, pheasant and sea urchin! I love cooking, and it was a learning curve.” In short order, the menu shifted to more family-friendly meals, cooked to the highest standards and fulfilling the wishes of customers. People would come in requesting a certain soup or a particular rice dish, and Debra obliged.
At the time, Debra was content cooking for the Riverside community, while Greg focused on growing the business. During the early months, she was pregnant with their daughter, and later they kept a pack-and-play upstairs at the café. They became experts at balancing work and family life. Moving from Easton, they raised their three children in town so they could be close to the shops while also able to pop out to attend one of the kids’ school plays or activities.
“We were able to be home at a reasonable time, and it was feasible to have a meal with our kids,” she says. The kids would go on to become taste testers for her cookbooks and also logged hours working the cash register and helping to make boxes for the holiday meals. Kids’ cooking classes became part of the lineup, too.
The couple’s children aren’t the only ones who grew up with the business; the customers span the decades, too. “We’re lucky that we have customers that have been here since we opened, who are older now, and kids who come in from school,” she says. Along with the multigenerational customer base, Aux Délices has a loyal staff. Among the friendly, knowledgeable team, there are some who have been onboard for 20 years.
As Aux Délices expanded, the couple intentionally kept the radius within Fairfield County, because they like to be present in person. “We are on-site every day in the stores, looking at things, noticing things we love, going through the store. It was important for the stores to be within driving range. We’re kind of control freaks,” she says with a laugh. “Always wanting to know what’s going on.”
Even as they opened Darien and Westport and updated the menus from time to time, some dishes remain perpetual favorites.
Customers line up every day to pick up a salad sampler (try Gloria’s chicken, shrimp salad and shaved Brussels sprouts, among many others) or a sandwich for lunch. The orzo and arugula salads have a cult following—the perfect sides for a picnic, or a lunch or dinner at home.
There are shaker salads, bento boxes and packaged salads as well as grab-and-go dinners ranging from turkey chili and chicken enchiladas to beef bourguignon and chicken pot pie, along with delicious cakes for cel-
ebrations. Everything is made from scratch, including the mayonnaise used in salads and sandwiches, and the broth for soups (there’s also bone broth available to-go by the cup), making it all taste that much more delicious.
The team works on keeping the surroundings as fresh as the food. This year, they are doing a redesign at all stores, tweaking color palettes and modernizing certain details to keep the spaces appealing to all ages. In Riverside, they’re adding a new coffee bar as part of the update.
This time of year is among the busiest, when so many families turn to Aux Délices to provide their holiday meals. The menus change slightly but count on classics like Debra’s family recipe for brioche-sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a much-loved brisket for Hanukkah. “I feel like it’s a big responsibility to prepare people’s holiday meal,” she says. “It’s a lot of fun, but we take it very seriously. It means a lot to us that people trust us to put our food on their tables.” All holiday meals are delivered for free. Aux Délices will deliver regular dinners and meals, too, a service that started during the pandemic.
With the holidays here, Debra and her team are focused on giving back. She is on the board of the Undies Project and also works with Kids in Crisis and Covenant House, among others. As part of the anniversary celebration, they will be donating a portion of proceeds to charitable organizations. They will also host special events and deals to thank the community. “We’ve been supported for all these years, and we don’t take that for granted,” she says. “It’s amazing to me that we’re here and that Greg and I still love doing what we do.” auxdelicesfoods.com