What began as a small farm-to-table café on Varick Street has grown into one of New York’s most versatile catering companies. Founded by Deborah Miller and now known as Deborah Miller Catering & Events, the company has weathered hurricanes, pandemics, and shifting tastes while holding onto its high-touch, custom approach.

In this conversation with our CEO, David Litwak, Emmanuelle Heyman, Head of Marketing and Brand Communications at Deborah Miller Catering & Events, shares the company’s origin story, its pivot, and how the team continues to balance corporate consistency with the personal touch that defined Deb's from the start. Let’s dive in.

David Litwak: Would love to hear a little bit about how Deborah Miller Catering & Events got started and what's the origin story of the business?

Emmanuelle Heyman: I'm the head of marketing and brand communications at Deborah Miller Catering & Events. Deborah Miller is from New Jersey. She grew up in the suburbs, and her father owned a greasy spoon in lower Manhattan. From a young age, she was always helping out and surrounded by the culinary world.

She later went to the CIA, earned her culinary degree, and traveled around Europe, honing her interests and tastes while developing an appreciation for farm-to-table food. This was back in the 80s and 90s, when farm-to-table wasn’t yet a big thing in the U.S.

When she returned, her father was ready to leave his business and offered her the space. Instead of continuing the greasy spoon, she created her own concept: Deb's.

Deb’s was a farm-to-table style deli, coffee shop, and café. They served pastries, quiches, sandwiches, and salads out of a small storefront on Varick Street.

Deborah ran it herself, changing the menu every single day based on whatever she felt inspired to cook. Everything was seasonal, healthy, and fresh, very much ahead of its time.

Over time, offices in the neighborhood started asking for catering, sandwiches for meetings, breakfasts, and big salad orders. So, very organically, Deborah’s business grew into a catering operation.

About 10 years later, they opened a catering commissary kitchen near the South Street Seaport. Deb's, the café continued to run, while this new arm focused on corporate catering.

Of course, there were ups and downs; Hurricane Sandy wiped out that kitchen. But they pivoted, eventually opening a much larger space near One Police Plaza: a 5,000-square-foot commissary kitchen that’s still the hub today.

Then COVID happened, and they shut down the café portion of the business. That became the moment to really figure out how they wanted to operate moving forward.

They decided to go all in on catering, not just drop-offs anymore, but full-scale events: holiday parties, conferences, weddings. What started as Deb's became Deborah Miller Catering, and now it’s Deborah Miller Catering & Events. Deb's is no longer, and today it’s a bigger operation, still boutique, but with about 45 full-time staff.

Now they handle events anywhere from 30 to 1,000 people across the New York DMA. That’s kind of the story. And Deborah is still the owner, overseeing everything.

Deborah still oversees the entire operation from time to time. We have a full team now, sales, culinary, marketing, servers, and more, but the trajectory of the business has been very organic.

She never set out to build a catering company. It really started with that little shop she inherited from her dad, and it just grew naturally based on the demand for what people wanted.

David Litwak: Our building at Maxwell has had a similar trajectory—Capsuoto Freres was wiped out by Sandy, and then the restaurant after, China Blue, was wiped out by COVID. It’s amazing how many lives both spaces and hospitality businesses have to live in order to survive and adapt in this chaotic world.

Emmanuelle Heyman: It’s all about adapting and feeding the city in different ways as it needs to be fed.

David Litwak: Are there any regrets about not having a brick-and-mortar location?

Emmanuelle Heyman: I think there’s definitely an emotional attachment to the idea of Deb's. Seeing customers every day and having that kind of interaction is really special; you’re able to build connections and put a face to the name all the time. Deborah is behind the scenes a lot now, and so is much of our team, but when you’re building a brand, having that neighborhood presence and being front and center is really powerful.

At the time, Deb's had such a strong presence in downtown Manhattan, you thought of farm-to-table, you thought of Deb's. Now we’re everywhere, which is great, but it’s less connected to a single neighborhood identity. That growth has been amazing, but it does make it harder to carry over the personal touch that defined us in the beginning. We really try to bring that into all of our events, because that’s how we started, but it’s obviously harder to maintain at scale.

David Litwak: Well, along those lines, what do you consider to be Deborah Miller Catering & Events’ angle, or secret sauce?

Emmanuelle Heyman: I’d say it’s that everything we do is extremely specific; there’s no one-size-fits-all model. Of course, we have guiding philosophies: everything is locally sourced, root-to-stem when possible, highly seasonal, and as sustainable as we can make it. But beyond that, we work very closely with both the client and our culinary team to ensure every event feels unique and memorable.

We’re very high-touch, and we take pride in staying that way. Everything we do is custom. Our chefs don’t have the attitude of, “This is my dish, take it or leave it.” Instead, they collaborate with clients, adjust to their preferences, and even brainstorm new ideas if that’s what’s needed. That flexibility and collaboration are really at the heart of what makes us different.

David Litwak: One of our competitive advantages at Maxwell is that we don’t make people choose from a fixed menu. It’s not like walking into a restaurant and being told, “Here are your options, take it or leave it.” We’re not a catering company, and we’re not a restaurant.

Instead, we’ve hosted incredibly diverse groups with very different needs, and that flexibility is part of our identity. I really believe that as experiential marketing and experiences in general become more important, whether to individuals or brands, people want those moments to reflect something unique about them. They don’t want a cookie-cutter approach.

It sounds like you’ve gone through a similar evolution, moving beyond just the standard corporate lunches, like the Goldman Sachs type orders, into that more bespoke, creative side. And I think that’s exactly what people are looking for.

Emmanuelle Heyman: That’s where even companies planning holiday parties are pushing for something crazy, unique, and different. They don’t want the same old formula; they want to excite their employees. That’s the world we’re living in now.

David Litwak: Exactly. There’s so much competition for people’s time; just convincing someone to get off the couch and show up takes effort. So the experience really has to be worth it.

I’m curious—tell me about some of the more insane experiences you’ve had. In my experience, people in the events world always have great stories, sometimes horror stories, sometimes amazing ones. Let’s go with the amazing. What are some “wow” experiences that made you think, This is why I do what I do?

Emmanuelle Heyman: There are a lot of great ones. Honestly, working on weddings has been an incredible experience. Being able to work with a couple through the tasting, then bringing their vision to life on the actual day, is really special.

This past summer, we did a wedding at someone’s childhood home, and it was magical. The ceremony was in the backyard, the after-dinner party took place in her living room, and all these different elements came together beautifully. We incorporated cultural traditions, decor, and worked closely with the planner and florist to make it seamless.

From the very first tasting, I thought, these are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Seeing their joy and excitement throughout the process, and on the day itself, was unforgettable.

It was so magical, even though it rained that day and we had to quickly move things under a tent, none of it mattered. Those little moments of joy, seeing the couple’s faces absolutely beaming, it was unforgettable.