Aussie born and raised chef Curtis Stone (link) owes a lot to the women in his life. His mom and his grandmother taught him all about cooking; and recently Curtis Stone opened his latest culinary endeavor, Maude, in Beverly Hills. Here the internationally renowned chef gives us his top five favorites, from soup to nuts (pun intended).
(Image courtesy Ray Kachatorian)
1. This picture frame of my grandparents is priceless to me. I opened my little, dream restaurant at the beginning of this year; it’s named Maude after my dear granny who introduced me to food. She was such a special lady and this photo sits proudly on the counter in my 25-seater restaurant for all of my guests to see.
(Image courtesy Ray Kachatorian)
2. During our honeymoon we stayed at Carmo’s Boutique Hotel in Ponte de Lima- it’s located in the oldest town in Portugal and it’s just a romantic, beautiful old boutique hotel. The mother and daughter who own it took us around Porto and Ponte de Lima for a day and they cooked us incredible food- it was just a wonderful, memorable experience.
3. Some people love their fast cars and fancy suits, but for me, it’s my outdoor wood fire oven. I cook anything in there from a leg of lamb with rosemary to homemade pizzas, and I char peppers in there too for a smoky, mouth-on-fire salsa. We’re so blessed with the weather in LA so cooking and eating outside has become a way of life for my family and me.
(Image courtesy of Lindsay Price)
4. There is a restaurant back home in Australia that is probably my favorite called Attica. The chef, Ben Shewry, has this incredible garden not far from the restaurant that you can wander over to and take a look at. He forages a lot — from the ocean, garden and neighboring area — and he grows a bunch of his own stuff, as well. It’s skillfully put together and his food is unique and delicious.
5. I was in NYC only last week with my wife, Lindsay, and our three-year-old, Hudson. We jumped into a pedicab and took a tour around Central Park together—it’s really stunning and has a buzzing vibe in any season. Hud fell asleep wedged between Linds and I halfway into the tour. To quote Linds, “he (Hud) doesn’t get the whole city that never sleeps thing.” Haha.
