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Curtis Stone Interview
By Malcolm Jolley
Earlier this spring I met Curtis Stone at a pub before a book signing. The interview below was conducted over a plate of poutine (his first) and a pint of Wellington County Ale. Stone surprised me in two ways: 1) he really is an alarmingly good looking guy and 2) he knows his food inside and out. As a popular TV presenter, it would be easy to dismiss him as all show biz, but his book
Cooking With Curtis is serious and inspired. I guess this should have come as no surprise at all, since Stone climbed his way up the ranks of Marco Pierre White's fierce restaurant empire in 1990s London. I'm not sure what Stone had to say to the ladies whose books he signed after our chat, but when I left him at The Cook Book Store they had literally lined up around the block to see him.
Gremolata: : I want to make sure I've got your bio right. You cooked a bit in Melbourne, took year off to travel the world, stopped in London and ended up working for Marco Pierre White?
Curtis Stone: Yeah. My best mate and I basically had a hundred bucks each a day that was supposed to last us for six months or so. And we were doing all right but then we started getting drunk in Greece, dancing on the beach and having too much fun. So, the $100 a day budget went out the window. We had enough to get ourselves to London where I called my mum and said, "Check my bank account." And there was something like 400 Aussie dollars left. So, I was about to ask her to sell my car, but then I thought, 'I've always wanted to stop in London for awhile anyway, so...
Gremolata: : So?
Curtis Stone: Marco Pierre White's book [White Heat] was the first one I'd ever gotten and I loved his story, his passion and his attitude. So I thought, 'why not?' You know, you can get that confidence if you're away from home.
Gremolata: : But how did you get hired? What did you say to him?
Curtis Stone: It's a funny story. I knocked on his back door at the Oak Room and said, "Is Marco in?" And, it was the head chef, said "Who the fuck are you?" [Laughs.] And I said, "I'm an Aussie chef and I'm willing to work for nothing so you can see that I'm half decent." And he said, "Put an apron on". So I got through the service and walked away thinking, 'Well, I got to stand in his kitchen for a night. That's pretty amazing in itself." When I went back the next day and got put on a section and that was it. The he sent me Mirabelle as sous chef for about 12 months and we won a Michelin star, then he sent me to Quo Vadis as the head chef.
Gremolata: : And what was it like working for him?
Curtis Stone: He's a pretty funny guy. He only really trusts who he trusts.
Gremolata: : Like Gordon Ramsay?
Curtis Stone: Yeah, well they're not talking, which is crazy because they were best mates. Gordon was one of Marco's boys. But Marco was eccentric. There was nothing to talk about. Know what I mean? You just did what he told you.
Gremolata: : You seem pretty well adjusted to have come through his kitchens. Did he ever go after you?
Curtis Stone: Oh sure. I can remember working for about four days in a row, it was a Thursday and the toilets were a floor below the kitchen. I had to go, so I ran down the stairs to take a leak, and I was standing there thinking, I'm never going to get it together to be ready tonight. And I could feel the pressure on me building when I went back. And he knew that I wasn't quite on my game. And he just started riding me, And pushing me harder and harder and sending every plate back, when there was no reason to. Just trying to break you, you know? I knew it was going to happen, when I was taking a leak, and I thought, 'what am I doing just slaving away?'
Gremolata: : Why did you slave away?
Curtis Stone: There was just something about it that made you want to go back and do it the next day. There was something about just making it to the end of the day. I'd say, "I've made it!" And the weeks go by: weeks and weeks. Then, suddenly you're one of the guys who's been there quite awhile, and people are coming to you and you feel like you're really part of something. A bit like playing a team sport, I reckon.
Gremolata: : So how did you go from the kitchen to TV?
Curtis Stone: Someone published a book on chefs in London that I managed to squeeze into. I was up there with my heroes, it was pretty crazy. And I'd felt like I'd one everything I was going to do with Marco, so I was looking for my next job. I was actually thinking about trying to get my own place. But then the TV interest came up and I thought, 'why not?' I figured it would last a few weeks or months, then I'll go back to what I do. It just sort of never stopped.
Gremolata: : What was the first series?
Curtis Stone: It was in UK, for the BBC and it was called Dinner in a Box. We'd show people how to make the food for a dinner party, and then pack all the ingredients in a box. It was a bit a fun and then I went back to Australia for Surfing the Menu.
Gremolata: : That didn't look like such a hard thing to do.
Curtis Stone: It was a hard job. [Laughs.] Ben [O'Donohughe] and I are great mates. We were on the road for two months on this incredible journey. And it was great from a chef's perspective. You think you know a lot about clams, but then you actually go out on a boat with a guy who gathers them and he's talking about how the draughts affect them. There's less rain water coming down into the sea, and you never thought about that. You start to get in touch with where the food comes from. I can remember this wonderful goat farm where they made cheese, and the lady would give her goats aroma therapy to calm them! It was great. Surfing the menu really opened up my eyes.
Gremolata: : But you would have had the very best purveyors come to your back door in London?
Curtis Stone: Oh sure. But at the same time, when you're in a kitchen environment it can be difficult to get your head around what's in season. And it's all being brought to you, which is all well and good but you don't have to think about it much. It's walking through a farmers' market where I get my inspiration. Seeing the fresh asparagus, or whatever, and thinking about what I'm going to do wit it.
Gremolata: : How does that compare with you find in people's shopping carts on Take Home Chef?
Curtis Stone: Well it's interesting. As a chef you conceive of recipes, and this is what we did on Surfing the Menu, and you write down all the ingredients and think you've got it all. But when you meet people in the supermarket and go back to their homes and they've got one pot, one dull old knife and a three year old screaming around house, it's something different. That's what people really have to deal with. It's a bit of a culture shock!
Gremolata: : Speaking of culture shock, your cookbook Cooking With Curtis, features three recipes for rabbit that includes a picture if you with some furry bunnies. Have you caught any flak for that?
Curtis Stone: Yeah, a little. Not so much in Australia because we're used to it. That photo was actually taken in the Borough Market in London, which is a public market, so... I don't make any apologies for that. I think if that's your opinion and I respect that, but you should show some respect for the fact that many people consider hare to be part of their diet. What I try t say is: this is the ingredient, and if you like it here some styles that you can cook with it. What I've learned from Take Home Chef is that a lot of people are intimidated from not knowing. People say they've never had asparagus because they don't know how to cook it.
Gremolata: : Asparagus?
Curtis Stone: Yeah. It's amazing. Or artichokes. Things that are just a little bit out of the ordinary. There was someone who had never had eggplant before. They would be ashamed to ask how to cook it, but I thought, 'well, why would you know, unless someone showed you?'
Photo credit: The Cookbook Store / www.cook-book.com
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