CURTIS STONE 'MY BIG MOVE HOME TO OZ'

HAVING SURVIVED LOCKDOWN IN LA, THE CELEBRITY CHEF NOW DREAMS OF A TRUE BLUE UPBRINGING FOR HIS YOUNG SONS

- Paul Ewart

He’s the Melbourne-born chef who’s conquered LA’s food scene and befriended the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. But fame and fortune haven’t protected Curtis Stone from the grim realities of the pandemic in the US – including its devastating impact on the restaurant industry.

“It’s been really tough, I’m not going to lie,” an emotional Curtis tells New Idea during an exclusive chat. “My number one priority has been to keep my staff employed, so we’ve never worked harder to try to keep the businesses running under ever-changing restrictions.

“We started doing kerbside pick-up, home delivery, flipping the restaurants into grocery stores – you name it, we’ve done it!”

Curtis’ most recent pivot has been the conversion of his fine-dining Beverly Hills eatery, Maude, into a homage to the humble pie.

“Americans aren’t used to the idea of a savoury pie,” Curtis, 45, explains. “To them, a pie is pecan, apple, or cherry. So to bring a taste of Australia here is fantastic.”