Tony Maws may not be a regular watcher of Top Chef (all the deliciousness at Craigie on Main and Kirkland Tap & Trotter doesn’t just cook itself, y’know) but the James Beard Award-winning chef was happy to share his opinions with the cheftestants as a judge. He was just as happy (we think) to talk with us about his appearance, impressions and possible upcoming stints on TV.
Boston Chefs: So, how did your appearance come about?
Tony Maws: They asked me to be a guest judge, so that’s what I did.
BC: You haven’t done a lot of reality TV, cooking competition-type stuff. Do you steer clear of that mostly?
Maws: I did Iron Chef in Japan which wasn’t distributed widely in the U.S. That was kind of cool mostly because I got to go to Japan. And I have something coming up that I’m not supposed to talk about yet but I like being a chef and I like being with my family. A lot of the things that have been presented are like, “Oh yeah you have to be in LA for two months.” How the hell do I spend two months in LA with a six year old and two businesses to run? I don’t know how other people do it, but if they figure it out, good for them. That’s awesome.
From my experience, what’s neat about these shows is they’re silly and you can’t take them all too seriously whether you’re a contestant or a judge or just watching on TV. You have to understand that it’s a game. So the winner certainly deserves the credit for winning the competition but it doesn’t always mean that the best cook or the best chef is going to walk out of there with the trophy. But, they’re real. At least when I was a judge there wasn’t any sort of prep for it or any discussions ahead of time about how things were going to go down, it was very honest and true in that respect. What I was a part of was a real competition.
BC: Did they tell you about the restraints that the chefs were working under?
Maws: I was privy to everything going on in the segment that I was a part of but I can’t tell you a whole lot of what happened beforehand because they’re very secretive.
BC: So, what are you looking for when you’re assessing a dish?
Maws: I think the same thing anybody would be. I didn’t change my taste buds or my palate to say, “Oh they had to deal with this and that.” I said “Is this delicious?” or “Did this work?” They were all dealing with the same thing. You don’t have to give your complete assessment of the dish until the end after you’ve tasted everything. So, by then you kind of have a sense of what the playing field was really like. And you don’t have to judge if it was the best dish ever, you have to judge if it was the best that day.
BC: So, what does success on a show like Top Chef tell you about a chef?
Maws: Honestly, not a whole lot, not to me anyway. It means that they had a good enough personality to get on the show, they somehow found the time to be able to do it and it means that they like to have fun and they put themselves out there. I don’t – and this is me talking – I’m not dissing the show, but it’s just that: a show. It’s not real life in a kitchen. And I’m not saying that one is better or worse. But it is what it is.
BC: If you had to design a Top Chef Boston challenge, what would it be?
Maws: I would see who can actually make a real chowder. Cause no one knows how to make real chowder anymore.
BC: What’s your definition of a “real chowder”?
Maws: My version has clams in it, lots of them. It’s got salt pork, not bacon. It’s got lots of onions and it’s milk-based. Not cream. Now that’s not to say that I haven’t had other chowders that don’t have those things and aren’t delicious, but the chowder that I was brought up with as a New Englander on the ocean was that chowder.
BC: Are you watching the show currently?
Maws: No, I have a night job. They do a great job with the show but I think at this point it’s not really for people in the industry. I had a great time watching the first season back in the day; I think everybody did. Tiffani once worked for us so I was highly invested and I thought it was a blast. But now, after however many seasons it’s been, it has been fun and I’m glad they’re still doing it but I have two restaurants I have to worry about.
BC: Are there any Top Chef-ish challenges that you’d be afraid to take on?
Maws: Wow. I don’t know. I’m fortunate, I’m not awesome at pastry but I’m also not bad at it. I’ve done my share of time in a pastry kitchen. I’m fortunate to have had a pretty well-rounded culinary background so I don’t think I would shy away from a whole hell of a lot. Also, a lot of it has to do with who you’re going up against. I can make a soufflé but am I going to make one as good as the person at the next stove? I don’t know. It depends.
I feel like if you’re going have success on a show like Top Chef, you have to give yourself a fair shake, be game for whatever they throw at you and do your best. That’s all you can do. Also, you’re talking to me and I’ve done Chef’s Whim menus for 12 years. I mean, I do these shows every day, every week. That’s what we do. Especially in the early days at Craigie Street Bistro the Chef’s Whim was truly a la minute. And people have an expectation of how long food’s supposed to take so we had very little time and very little margin for error to make something completely delicious and unique. And it wasn’t just two people, or four sitting at a table, it was a whole dining room full of them, so I kind of already lived it.
BC: Are we going to be seeing more of you on TV with this next project you mentioned?
Maws: I’m not supposed to talk about it. But my priorities will always be here in Cambridge and Somerville. That’s where I’m focused right now. You know, I don’t know what the future holds but making sure that my two restaurants are awesome and getting my son to school every day, that’s enough of a daunting task.
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