Curtis Stone: ‘My most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity? Juliette Lewis, on the toilet'

The Guardian

7 days ago

The steak at your restaurant Gwen has just been named the 43rd best steak in the world. What is the secret to making the 43rd best steak in the world?
It's a complicated process. You've got to source great quality beef, so you need to work with farmers and understand their cattle – so the breed, the feed, their age, all those fun bits. We dry age our beef and butcher it carefully. And then we cook it over live fire. All three things – the sourcing, the butchering and cooking – are probably as important as each other.
If you're cooking steak at home, it's all about resting. Take it out of the fridge 45 minutes before you put it on the barbecue or pan to bring it up to room temperature. That's called tempering. Then cook it at a really high heat.
I actually rest my steak in the middle and at the end. So I'll cook it for a minute or two on each side, depending on how thick the steak is, remove it from the heat and let it sit on a wire rack for maybe five or six minutes. Then I put it back on to finish the cooking, and rest it for a second time before I serve it.
Has anyone ever confused you for the Canadian prepper Curtis Stone?
No! But I do find those people fascinating. It's wild that they go to these crazy lengths just in case. I'm of the opinion that if the world ends and I was the only one left, and I had prepped out a house the way they do, I probably wouldn't want to be there anyway.
What's your most controversial pop culture opinion?
I don't know if it is pop culture, but I have a pretty strong opinions about people wearing yoga pants when they're not doing yoga. I don't understand that. If you were going to play football, you would put on your cleats and your football attire – but you wouldn't wear that anywhere else. I don't understand why people wear yoga outfits all day long. If you're sitting there in yoga pants, I apologise.
I'm wearing a three-piece suit. Who would play you in a biopic about your life?
If I was being super practical, Chris Hemsworth is kind of my size and type. We're both blonde, he's got an Aussie accent – it'd be easy job for him. I don't know if that's the reason to go for someone. Maybe I'd go for someone a little darker. Johnny Depp?
You run a pie shop in Beverly Hills. Have you managed to convince Americans that pies are the best thing ever?
Ha ha! It's a battle. Meat pies are quite foreign to them. They're used to a pie having cherries or peaches in them. We make those too. It's interesting – a lot of people have tried to do Aussie pies in the States and no one has succeeded. We've done it a bit differently because we also make the sweet pies that they love – so they come in for those and then we take them on a little journey through sausage rolls and beef pies.
Who is the most famous person you've cooked for?
Paul McCartney, or maybe Oprah. McCartney is a vegan, so that was more of a challenge. That was back in the days when I was working at the London restaurant Quo Vadis. He came in unannounced, and this was back when vegans were pretty rare. So I ran through the dry store and made him a lentil soup and cooked some vegetables. He called me out to the restaurant and told me that he thought it was fantastic. I nerded out a little bit because I was big Beatles fan.
I have cooked for Oprah a bunch of times. She's a truffle lover, so I have done a full truffle menu for her. And when she came out to Australia, we threw a big Aussie barbecue for her on Whitehaven Beach.
What is your favourite restaurant in the world and why?
Bloody hell. I want to tell you my favourite 10, but I'll choose one. There's a place in the south of France called Château de la Chèvre d'Or. It juts out on the French Riviera and it's a magical setting. It's got two Michelin stars, and the food's super classic French – really detailed, lots of technique and just so delicious.
Or Alinea in Chicago. I know I only said one, but Alinea is the total opposite of La Chèvre d'Or. Grant Achatz's food is super playful and intelligent and crazy. It is one of those one joints where I always go, 'Oh my god. How do you do that?'
What is the best lesson you've learned from someone you work with?
Marco Pierre White was probably the hardest worker I ever saw in the kitchen. There was nothing too big for him. He would clean his stove after service like the rest of us, even though he was this giant in the food world. That always really impressed me. I've kept that with me as I've gone through my career. If you show your team that you still like being in the kitchen, it makes them feel proud to work with you.
What book, album or film do you always return to, and why?
Music is so interesting because it makes you remember what you were doing when you first heard it. I love punk music, and I listened to a lot of Sex Pistols when I was young, since I was about 14. God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols is something that I always play. I know every word.
What's been your most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?
A few years ago I tried to go to the bathroom on a airplane and Juliette Lewis was sitting there, reading her phone on the toilet. She hadn't locked the door. I went back to my seat, and stuffed myself down in the chair as low as I could possibly get. I was so embarrassed. She was probably more embarrassed. But we never made eye contact afterwards.
Well, she should have locked the door.
She should have, but I did kind of burst it open.
Curtis Stone is on MasterChef Australia: Back to Win on Network 10 and 10Play on 24 and 25 June.