Michael Smith (chef)

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For other people by this name, see Michael Smith.

**Michael Lorne Smith**

Born
Cooking style	Canadian Regional
Education	Culinary Institute of America
Restaurants	Chef Emiritus, The Inn at Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island
TV Show(s)	Chef at Home, Chef at Large, The Inn Chef

Michael Lorne Smith is a Canadian chef and writer, host of Chef at Home, Chef at Large (both on the Food Network Canada) and The Inn Chef.

Smith graduated with honours from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York in 1991. He then worked in restaurants in London, South America and the Caribbean before coming back to North America to cook in different restaurants in Manhattan.

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 intense focus on regionalism and the foods of Prince Edward Island.

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 new Food Network Canada 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 on Food Network Canada in 2004 and features a behind-the-scenes peek at Smith’s home kitchen and how he cooks for his family and friends. Chef at Home currently airs on Food Network Canada, Discovery Home U.S and in more than 40 countries around the world.

Smith has authored three cookbooks to date. His most recent, “Chef at Home – Cooking With and Without a Recipe”, hit bookshelves across Canada in the fall of 2005. “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.

Host of Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef, Chef Michael Smith can be seen in more than 40 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!