Chef At Home : Michael Smith

Michael Smith
Chef Michael Smith, host of the popular Chef at Home, has been cooking professionally for over fifteen years. An honors graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York, his career has spanned the globe from stints in a Michelin three-star restaurant in London to South America, the Caribbean, North America and some of Manhattan's finest kitchens.

In 1992, Smith joined Prince Edward Island's now famous country inn, The Inn at Bay Fortune, which soon became one of Canada's top 10 restaurants with the Chef noted for his fresh, contemporary approach.

Six years later, Smith's television show The Inn Chef debuted on the Life Network and later transitioned 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. 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 series Chef at Large. In May 2002, he was presented the James Beard Award for "Best National Television Special" for his documentary Saturday Night.

Perhaps his most challenging initiative to date is the recent shift Smith made from professional chef to home cook. His 3rd series, Chef At Home, debuted to rave reviews and top ratings and features a behind-the-scenes peak at Smith's home kitchen and how he cooks for his family and friends.

Smith has authored three cookbooks to date. Open Kitchen: A Chef's Day at The Inn At Bay Fortune, published in 1998, took the bronze medal at Cuisine Canada's Cookbook Award that same year. He followed that with The Inn Chef a year later. His third cookbook, based on his series, Chef at Home, hit the shelves in the fall of 2005.
Host of Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef, Chef Michael Smith can be seen in more than 25 countries. He is an award-winning cookbook author, newspaper columnist, roving Canadian cuisine ambassador and home cook. But Smith says his favorite role by far is Dad, at home on Prince Edward Island with his partner Rachel and their son Gabriel!