Michael Smith (chef)

Michael Dixon Smith
Born October 13, 1966 [1]
New York City, New York, United States
Education Culinary Institute of America & Rochester Institute of Technology

Culinary career

Cooking style Canadian Regional

Michael Dixon Smith is an American born chef and writer now residing in Canada, host of The Inn Chef, Chef at Home, Chef at Large, Chef Michael's Kitchen, Chef Abroad, and Chopped: Canada (all of which have appeared on the Canadian Food Network).

Life and career

Born in New York City,[2] Undergraduate at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 1984, member Phi Sigma Kappa national fraternity. Michael Smith graduated with honours from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York City in 1991. He then worked in restaurants in London, South America, and the Caribbean before coming back to North America to cook in different restaurants in Manhattan.

In 1992, Smith joined Prince Edward Island’s now famous country inn, The Inn at Bay Fortune in Fortune Bridge, Prince Edward Island which was soon regarded as one of Canada's top 10 restaurants with the chef noted for his intense focus on regionalism and the foods of Prince Edward Island.

The Inn at Bay Fortune, where Smith began his Canadian career.

Six years later, Smith's television show The Inn Chef debuted on the Life Network and later moved to Food Network Canada. The series featured Smith as he took viewers inside the inn's real-life country kitchen. The Inn Chef won best Variety/Music/Cooking Show in TV GUIDE Canada's 2001 Reader Poll. The series currently airs on Prime TV.

In 1999, Smith opened his own restaurant, Maple, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It quickly became recognized as one of the top venues in the country for Canadian Cuisine. In the fall of 2001 Smith left Maple to focus on his new Food Network Canada series Chef at Large. In May 2002, he was presented the James Beard Award for "Best National Television Special" for his documentary Saturday Night. He is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall; and often jokingly refers to himself as the "World's Tallest Freestanding Chef" (a play on Toronto's CN Tower, which for years was billed as the "World's Tallest Freestanding Structure").

Perhaps his most challenging initiative to date is the recent shift Smith made from professional chef to home cook. His third series, Chef at Home, debuted to rave reviews and top ratings on Food Network Canada in 2004 and features a behind-the-scenes peek at Smith’s home kitchen and how he cooks for his family and friends. Chef at Home currently airs on Food Network Canada, as well as on ION Life and Discovery Home U.S., and in more than 40 countries around the world.

Smith has authored eight cookbooks to date with his ninth one due to hit shelves in the Fall 2015. The Best of Chef at Home: Essential Recipes for Today's Kitchen was published in the fall of 2009. Chef at Home: Cooking With and Without a Recipe was released in 2005. His first book, Open Kitchen: a Chef's Day at The Inn at Bay Fortune, took the bronze medal at Cuisine Canada’s Cookbook Award in 1998. He followed that with The Inn Chef a year later.

In 2008, Smith launched a new show on Food Network Canada entitled Chef Abroad. Interestingly, Smith was at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Wednesday, November 26, 2008 (having just filmed an episode of Chef Abroad in Northern Thailand) when the airport was seized during the Thai political crisis.

In 2009 Michael separated from his partner, Rachel. They remain friends and are parents to a son, Gabriel (Gabe). In 2013 he married Chastity Smith, and together they are parents to his son Gabe and their daughters Ariella and Camille.[3]

On January 31, 2010, Smith competed on the Food Network show Iron Chef America against Iron Chef Bobby Flay in battle avocado. He lost the battle 54–40.

Filmography

Television
Year Show Role Notes
1998–2000 The Inn Chef Host
2000–2002 Chef at Large Host Also is a writer
2004–2007 Chef at Home Host
2008–present Chef Abroad Host
2010 Iron Chef America Challenger[4] Battle Avocado
2011 Top Chef Canada Guest judge episode seven: "Life's Little Milestones"
2011–present Chef Michael's Kitchen Host S1 & S2 Asia, USA, uTube
2014–present Chopped: Canada Judge

Books

Michael Smith: Make Ahead Meals (2015 Penguin Books ISBN 9780143192169)

References

  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/chef.michael.smith1/posts/778528275526749
  2. ↑ (2009) Canadian News. Promo for PEI Fall Flavours festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5JdgXKnKFU
  3. ↑ http://seaandbescene.com/2012/06/baby-news-from-2-of-peis-finest/
  4. ↑ from The Food Network website
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