...and in 2011 was honored to receive a James Beard Award for Best Chef Northeast, which followed his recognition as a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2005.
His immense talent, creativity, rugged standards and expectations for himself and his staff extend to the farmers and suppliers who visit him daily.
“Good food is what it’s all about, and we set about to accomplish that every day,” Tony says. “It all starts with ingredients. We’ve been working closely with the farmers and fishing industry since we started at Craigie Street Bistrot in 2002, and it’s been part of my philosophy long before the terms ‘locavore’ or ‘farm-to-plate’ were coined.”
Tony’s resolute commitment to these tenets is part of his core. Basically, he says, these are values that are shared by about 90% of the world’s grandmothers. Indeed, the international acclaim that Tony has earned is the result of a combination of factors—namely his innovation in culinary techniques precise enough to baffle any grandma, and an inspired ability to match just the right food combinations to create the perfect dish.
Tony opened Craigie Street Bistrot in 2002 and, in spite of modest ambitions and major space limitations, the restaurant and chef earned widespread attention, including his being honored as one of the country’s 10 Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 2005. Since then Tony has also been named Boston’s Best Chef by Boston magazine three times, been featured on the cover of Bon Appétit (September 2010) in Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Gourmet, The Boston Globe, and on MSN.com, as well as Martha Stewart, NBC's Today show and Fox News.
Tony’s commitment to his guests and their dining experience has not changed— but his location has; he closed Craigie Street Bistrot and opened Craigie on Main in 2008.
At Craigie on Main, the earthy and mad-scientist sides of his nature combine to create a menu that he describes as refined rusticity. Tony has created a family-run business where guests are welcomed as though to a dinner party in his home. He works nightly behind the line, writes the menu which changes daily, directs the wine program, and makes time for afternoon visits from his son, Charlie.
Tony grew up in Newton, and now lives in Cambridge with his wife Karolyn and their son Charlie. A career highlight happened in 2009 when he cooked for his favorite band Wilco. His interests outside of cooking include the Red Sox and Patriots, reading cookbooks for pleasure (he has a collection of more than 200), skiing, eating Chinese food, and traveling—particularly to France.
