Curtis Stone
🇦🇺 Australia · Australian cuisine · b. 1975
The Melbourne-born chef who built a global TV career and the Michelin-starred Maude in Beverly Hills.
Biography
Curtis Stone is a Melbourne-born chef and television personality based in Los Angeles. After training in Australia he moved to London and worked under Marco Pierre White for eight years, before being cast in the British series 'Surfing the Menu' (2003) and moving to the US.
His Beverly Hills restaurant Maude opened in 2014 and now holds two Michelin stars; his second restaurant Gwen, a steakhouse in Hollywood, also earned a star. Across his US TV work — 'Top Chef Masters,' 'Take Home Chef,' 'America's Got Talent' as a frequent guest — he has become one of the most recognisable Australian chefs working internationally.
His cooking is rooted in the seasonal, ingredient-led style of modern Australian cuisine: clean, vegetable-forward, with Mediterranean and Asian influences, and a strong focus on local farming relationships.
Cooking Philosophy
Modern Australian — seasonal, ingredient-led, light, internationally informed. Stone argues that Australian cooking's real edge is its lack of dogmatic tradition: chefs are free to draw on Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Chinese and indigenous Australian influences without anyone calling it inauthentic.
Restaurants
- MaudeBeverly Hills
Two Michelin stars; tasting-menu restaurant focused on a single seasonal ingredient at a time.
- GwenHollywood
Steakhouse and butcher shop; Michelin-starred.
Awards & Recognition
- 2 Michelin stars (Maude)
- Michelin star (Gwen)
- Australian of the Year nominee
Iconic Dishes
Cookbooks
- What's for Dinner?
- Good Food, Good Life
- Surfing the Menu
Signature Recipes Inspired by Curtis
Original recipes we created as homages to Curtis's cooking style and signature dishes. Not direct reproductions of any copyrighted material — these are our interpretations of the traditions Curtis has worked with throughout their career.
Recipes in Curtis's Style
These recipes from our database reflect the australian cooking tradition that Curtis works in. They are not direct reproductions of Curtis's copyrighted recipes, but traditional dishes inspired by the same culinary heritage.
Career Timeline
Begins his apprenticeship at the Savoy Hotel in Melbourne aged 18.
Moves to London; joins Marco Pierre White's brigade at Café Royal and Quo Vadis.
Cast in the Australian travel-cookery series 'Surfing the Menu' alongside Ben O'Meara.
Hosts 'Take Home Chef' on TLC in the United States; becomes a recognisable face on American TV.
Opens Maude in Beverly Hills with a single-ingredient-per-month tasting-menu concept.
Opens Gwen, a steakhouse and butcher shop in Hollywood; earns a Michelin star shortly after.
Maude earns a second Michelin star — making it one of the few two-star restaurants in Los Angeles.
Mentors & Influences
Frequently Asked Questions about Curtis Stone
Where did Curtis Stone train?
Stone trained in Australia and then moved to London at 23, where he worked under Marco Pierre White for eight years across Quo Vadis and Café Royal — a classical fine-dining grounding that continues to inform his cooking.
What is Maude's tasting menu like?
Maude is structured around a single seasonal ingredient or region that changes every few months — a tomato season, a corn season, a Loire Valley season — with every course on the tasting menu built around interpretations of that ingredient. It is one of the few restaurants in Los Angeles working at this level of conceptual rigour, and currently holds two Michelin stars.
What is Gwen?
Gwen is Curtis Stone's Hollywood steakhouse and dry-aging butcher shop, opened with his brother Luke Stone in 2016. Customers can buy aged cuts from the butcher counter at the front and dine on wood-fired meats and charcuterie in the restaurant behind. It holds one Michelin star.
Why is Curtis Stone called 'Australian' when he lives in Los Angeles?
Stone was born and trained in Melbourne, and his culinary identity — seasonal, vegetable-friendly, internationally informed — is grounded in modern Australian cooking. He has lived in Los Angeles since the mid-2000s but continues to identify professionally with the modern Australian tradition, and his restaurants source from Californian farms in much the same way an Australian chef would source from Victorian or NSW farms.
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