Michael Dixon SmithCM is an American-born Canadian chef and cookbook writer. He has hosted The Inn Chef, Chef at Home, and judged on Chopped: Canada on the Canadian Food Network. Smith is Prince Edward Island's Food Ambassador, a nutritional activist, and an advocate for sustainable home cooking and farm-to-table cuisine.[1]
At age seventeen, Smith started cooking in kitchens while attending art school. Within five years he was the Head Chef at a large, upscale bistro. He then enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated second in his class. After graduation, Smith worked in Michelin three-star restaurants in Europe,[2] as well as kitchens in South Africa, the Caribbean,[3] and New York City.
Smith relocated to Prince Edward Island with the desire to cook sustainably by building a garden and developing partnerships with local farmers and fishermen.[4] Smith started as a chef at The Inn at Bay Fortune in 1991.[5] His first television show, The Inn Chef (1998), was filmed on location at the Inn, and across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.[6]
With his wife and business partner Chastity, Smith purchased The Inn at Bay Fortune in 2015.[8] FireWorks, the on site restaurant, practices sustainable cuisine by growing its own vegetables in the surrounding gardens and sourcing local seafood.[9]
In 2019, Smith was appointed to the Order of Canada as a member "for his contributions as a chef, entrepreneur and champion of local foods, as well as for his efforts to develop regional tourism."[10] In the same year, the Smiths opened a sister property, The Inn at Fortune Bridge.[11]
In 2009, Smith created a five-year scholarship for students in the Family and Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Prince Edward Island.[12]
On August 17, 2013, Smith married Chastity Smith, a singer-songwriter, on Prince Edward Island, where they live with their three children Gabe, Ariella, and Camille.[13] Smith is a collector of vintage maps.[14]
