Noah Ponjuan is the chef de cuisine at The Musket Room in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, where he works alongside executive chef Mary Attea. His cooking draws on his upbringing in Baton Rouge, from his Cuban family’s kitchen to the Creole and Vietnamese food he grew up around.
Ponjuan got his first restaurant job in high school, working front of house at Bin 77. After graduating from the Louisiana Culinary Institute, he cooked under Nathan Gresham at Beausoleil in Baton Rouge and went on to work at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. In New York, he started on the garde manger station at The Modern and later cooked at Nice Day Chinese Kitchen before joining The Musket Room in 2021.
At The Musket Room, Ponjuan serves chargrilled oysters with beurre de Créole and cornbread with black truffle and soured honey. He pairs tuna crudo with rhubarb and pickled magnolia, a nod to Louisiana’s state flower.
Ponjuan also mentored Lucy Field at The Musket Room and encouraged her to enter the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition.
