Author, Iron Chef and Owner of Stone Food, Inc.
“A solid career is a recipe of hard work and luck, but the former always trumps the later. At the beginning of my career I kept my head down and just worked my ass off, hoping that it would open me up to more opportunities and it did. Often, one thing I did led to another. „
EXPERIENCE
There are no true shortcuts. Work hard and keep a clean station. Your success is up to you.
I headed to London from Australia for the sole purpose of getting a job with Marco Pierre White, Britain’s most celebrated chef. I had read his cookbook, “White Heat”, and knew I’d thrive working for him. I started working at the Grill Room (Café Royal) the same day I met him. It was an intense job – but I loved it, and it changed the course of my career. I worked with Marco for a couple of years, working my way up the ranks until I was Head Chef of Quo Vadis.
You never stop learning and being inspired as a chef. It’s active, creative, and rewarding. Getting to host and produce television is just another arm of it that I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in.
We can teach people the skills to work on the line, but what is much harder to teach is a sense of teamwork and camaraderie. At the end of the day, there are many moving pieces that go into working in a restaurant, from sweeping the front to plating the food, and I want to know that my team will support each other, cover each other, and if they see something that needs to get done, that they’ll do it, regardless of their rank in the kitchen, in order to make the restaurant the best it can be.
Problem solving and adaptability go hand in hand in a kitchen. You must be able to switch gears at the drop of a pin, whether it’s a guest having a dietary restriction or a line cook calling out sick. You need to be able to stay calm, solve the problem, and get the dish out, regardless of what’s happening behind the scenes.
Eating is universal and beautiful food makes people happy and creates memories. Being a part of that is the greatest motivator. The culinary industry is an endless education, there is never an opportunity when you are not learning something new.
I find a lot of inspiration in my travels around the world. For my restaurant Maude, we are constantly traveling to different regions and trying all the food and wine we can – we captured this process in my series, "Field Trip with Curtis Stone." It’s important for me and my team to not just understand where a dish originates, but to know where the ingredients come from, who the purveyors are, and what story they’re telling. It all comes together and helps us innovate when we’re back in the kitchen.
A sharp knife is the one thing I can’t live without in order to do my job.
It’s fair to say that nothing in a kitchen could be accomplished without the team that works back there. When I catered the 28th Annual SAG Awards with my team, we cooked everything day of, so it was an intense day. There were several different components to the dishes, and it was critical that we all worked together and in sync to make sure we plated just under 700 dishes and had them ready to go at the same time. I could never have done that on my own!
During the pandemic, we had to implement several business pivots in order to keep the restaurants afloat. We turned Gwen into a marketplace for people to pick up groceries and easy meal kits. We temporarily shifted Maude into The Pie Room, where we’d sell sweet and savory pies. Both showed the resilience and adaptability of our teams, and while both restaurants are open for regular business again now, I’m very proud of how we came together to keep as many jobs as possible as well as how we were able to support our local communities.
It’s tough maintaining a healthy work/life balance. I surround myself with a good team who I trust and rely on and try to start my day by taking some time for myself. I try to take the boys to school and get to the boxing gym before heading to the restaurants and office.
Working out clears my head and sets me straight for the day.
Disclaimer: Individuals featured in the Inspirational Career Timelines section have been nominated by peers, colleagues and/or other members of the hospitality industry. It is to the best of our knowledge that each individual has demonstrated leadership and acted as a positive role model for others.
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