Dean Maupin, Executive Chef

Dean Maupin began his culinary journey helping out as a boy at his Grandfather’s fruit stand in Albemarle County, Virginia. It was there where he first learned the importance of quality food and fresh, local ingredients—a passion he has carried with him throughout his career. Chef Dean’s first restaurant job was at the age of 17, but it was the four years he spent at the Greenbrier Hotel in its esteemed Culinary Apprenticeship Program where he truly emerged as a chef. After years of cooking in some of the most dynamic kitchens in the country, Chef Dean returned to his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia to serve as Executive Chef of The Clifton Inn, a luxury Relais & Chateaux property now known also as a premier fine dining destination.

Chef Dean has received praise from respected national media, including The Washington Post, Food & Wine Magazine and The New York Post, for his culinary skill and his commitment to artisan, small-producer, and locally grown ingredients. When the Punk’s Backyard Grill® founders approached Chef Dean with their concept, it was a perfect marriage formed out of shared commitments. In 2008, Chef Dean joined Punk’s Backyard Grill as Executive Chef and created the menu that launched the concept. Nowadays, Chef Dean is frequently found in our kitchen training our grill masters and line cooks, testing new seasonal menu items, and inspecting our meat and produce to ensure they meet his exacting standards.

Chef Dean resides in Charlottesville with his wife, Erin, and daughter, Ellery.