The Dedham Transcript
  • Cambridge Q&A: Craigie On Main chef Tony Maws shares his cooking philosophy

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  • Growing up, Tony Maws, chef and owner of Craigie On Main, knew that cooking was not a glamorous profession. But he said he couldn't help falling in love with it at 15 during a summer job washing dishes at a restaurant.
    "I love the atmosphere of a restaurant," said Maws, 44, of Cambridge. "I love the energy. I love the camaraderie. I love the team work."
    Maws, who was voted Boston's Best Chef by Boston Magazine and won a 2011 James Beard Award, opened Craigie On Main six years ago, a newer and more spacious version of Craigie Street Bistro  in Harvard Square, his first business venture.
    "I don't know if I chose Cambridge or Cambridge chose me," he said.
    Maws recently talked to us about his cooking philosophy, what it takes to constantly create new dishes, and how he really feels about food.
    Q: What's your cooking philosophy?
    A: Make it delicious. Whatever my personal style is or technique I'm attracted to, to the public that's almost irrelevant. It's always about making it delicious. And I know that sounds overly simplistic, but that's the truth. It doesn't matter what it looks like. If it doesn't taste good, it defeats the whole purpose of what we're doing.
    It all involves technique. It all involves a sincere love of cooking, and it all involves making people happy. I don't put any greater weight on one type of food than another.
    Q: As a chef you have to constantly create or tweak recipes. What inspires you to keep reinventing the wheel?
    A: I think food is a product of every place you've ever been, every dish you've ever eaten. I certainly read a ton. But so much of it comes from eating and traveling, and eating in different areas and different foods.
    Food to me is very sentimental, very emotional. I'm a highly technical cook when I'm actually going through the process of cooking food, but the smells and the flavors and the sounds that come from eating food that to me is bringing back that sentimentality.
    To me some of the best meals and most memorable meals I've ever had were sitting at a big table with my family in holidays. The happiness, the joy and fun that comes from those type of experiences, that's what I'm trying to replicate. Any dish, any dining experience that brings back that level of emotion, that's what we're after.
    Q: How would you describe Craigie On Main's atmosphere?
    A: It's our version of fine dining, but it's definitely our version of it. I like being able to have the best ingredients and creative cooking, and an atmosphere that's very comfortable where people feel they can be themselves.
    Page 2 of 2 - If they're celebrating an anniversary and they're wearing a suit, fantastic. And if they're in jeans and a T-shirt and are just having a great time with friends, I think that's fantastic too. I think it's the ability to handle all of those and everything in between.
    Q: Did you go to school for culinary arts?
    A: I didn't. I'm not a big fan of culinary school. The education is good for some people in certain situations, but at the end of the day it's a craft. No one goes to school to be a cabinetmaker and all of a sudden there's a fantastic cabinet. It's just not the way that works.
    So much of what you learn about food, about cooking, is still in the lab, in the kitchen. So, why would I pay someone $50,000, $60,000 to watch when someone could be paying me—even if it's not a ton of money—and I'm on the line and getting the repetition that's really necessary to understand what this craft is all about.
    Q: So how did you learn? Did you play around with recipes?
    A: No, I went and worked for fantastic people. I knocked on doors of restaurants that I read a lot about. If that meant I started at the bottom, I started at the bottom. I was very patient about it. I didn't have goals that said I need to own a restaurant by the time I'm 30. I just figured I would be committed to the craft and committed to the process of learning.
    I'm a very competitive guy. I wanted to be good. But I didn't know what good was, and I didn't know what the goals were specifically until much later on in the game.
    Q: What's your signature dish?
    A: I don't have one … I cook based on mood. Certainly, there're some things that people have really come to enjoy, and again, it's my job to make people happy, so there're some dishes that have had a longer life than others. But, even then, they have evolved.
    Q: Which dishes are most popular?
    A: We change our menu pretty dramatically. The whole thing for us is cook delicious food … So, I cook something until I don't think it tastes good anymore.
    Craigie On Main, located at 853 Main St., is open 5:30-10 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and 5:30-10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
    For more information, call 617 497-5511, or visit www.craigieonmain.com.
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