Curtis Stone loves to keep his plate full—and not just with food, the Australian chef has a dizzying number of different projects in the works at any given moment. Currently he’s working on a second season of his TV series Field Trip with Curtis Stone, on PBS, which follows him on culinary adventures around the world, specifically to find inspiration for his lauded Beverly Hills restaurant Maude, which recently received a Michelin star, Stone’s first.
Since it debuted in 2014, Maude has evolved from creating tasting menus centered around a single ingredient every month to crafting four menus a year inspired by different wine regions around the globe. Stone and some of his team members jet off to these different wine regions and immerse themselves in the culture, cook with local chefs, meet with sommeliers, and go on excursions. They then infuse what they learn into a 10-course menu.
For Maude’s spring menu, available through the end of March, Stone and his team traveled to the Barossa Valley wine region of Australia where he spent time learning about the aboriginal people who’ve occupied the area for the last 100,000 years. “It’s revolutionary,” he says of the experience. “You go out there and you see all of these ingredients that you never even knew existed. It’s life changing kind of stuff.” Following that menu will be another equally as impressive one inspired by Chile, the first South American region to be featured at the restaurant.
There’s also Stone’s new Dallas restaurant, Georgie, opened in collaboration with his brother Luke Stone. Georgie was modeled after Stone’s LA restaurant Gwen but has its own twist. “The heartbeat of the restaurant is the butcher shop,” Stone says. “There are a lot of meat-centric dishes. We also really pride ourselves on doing all of our vegetable dishes very well. There’s a big bar and a great bar program. It’s got a real vibe.”
Curtis Stone’s Restaurant Gwen
And last—but certainly not least—he’s working on opening yet another restaurant in LA, this time in Downtown’s 1928 Trust Building on Spring Street. As for the concept of the restaurant, we’ll have to wait and see. It’s still in its early design phase
and slated for an end-of-year opening. “With all my restaurants, I want them all to have a distinct personality,” Stone says. “I certainly don’t want chains. I want everything to be individual and I think that way it keeps it exciting.” One thing is certain, though. It’s going to be hot, literally. “I’ve fallen in love with cooking over an open flame, so there will certainly be a lot of fire elements,” he adds. curtisstone.com
