Many chefs pride themselves on inventing new and innovative ways of combining ingredients. Chef Deborah Scott is quite possibly the best! However, for Chef Scott, the proof is in the bag, so to speak. While a student at the Baltimore International Culinary College, Chef Scott was given a brown paper bag of unrelated food items and instructed to use those items to create a recipe. Not only did she win the gold medal in the cooking competition, her recipe was so unique and delicious she received two awards from the judges at the American Culinary Federation. It is with this creativity and attention to detail that Chef Scott is now at the helm of three kitchens, at three different restaurants, each with vastly different genres of cuisine: Indigo Grill, Kemo Sabe, and Island Prime. Chef Scott first garnered attention in the early 1990’s when San Diego’s Little Italy welcomed Indigo Grill. Chef Scott proved herself to be one of San Diego’s premier restaurateurs by creating the menu, running the kitchen and front of house, selecting the décor, and even designing the logo.

The success of Indigo Grill led to a meeting with the Cohn Restaurant Group in 1995. The Cohn Group approached Chef Scott with the idea of creating a restaurant with a southwestern influence and Asian flair. Chef Scott’s affinity for pairing seemingly incongruous flavors made her the ideal candidate for Executive Chef and Partner at Kemo Sabe. Chef Scott’s interpretation of the two cuisines led to mouthwatering selections which include spring onion enchiladas, stuffed with moo shoo pork and garnished with Szechwan peppercorn plum salsa, and Thai seafood chowder with New Mexico chiles. Showcasing her true diversity, Chef Scott and the Cohn Group teamed up again with the paradise themed Island Prime. Here, Scott works magic with traditional recipes, raising the bar to a standard few others will meet. Diners enjoy three melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloins, accompanied by blue crabmeat, wild mushrooms and Gorgonzola cheese in Island Prime’s signature filet mignon trio. Chef Scott’s remarkable ability to conduct three diverse kitchens is a testament to her natural talent and creativity. As the chef herself so aptly summarizes, “It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. Figure out what foods fit together and you’ll create a masterpiece.”