<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Aussie native Curtis Stone is a chef just about any woman wants to be rescued by. Fortunately, his popular TLC show, Take Home Chef, allows us ladies to live out that very fantasy. In each episode, Stone sneaks up on shoppers in the grocery aisle and then heads home with the lucky gal (or guy) to guide them through preparing a casual feast for friends or a romantic dinner for two. Who wouldn&amp;#039;t want a pro (and cute chef) to help at home? We caught up with Stone outside of the grocery store \u2014 actually, on his cell phone while he was running to the DMV \u2014 to learn about his star chef life in the star-studded town he now calls home: Los Angeles. DELISH: How long have you lived in Los Angeles? CURTIS STONE: I&amp;#039;ve been in L.A. for three years now. I started in Pasadena, moved down to the beach in Santa Monica, and then moved to Hollywood. I live alone and would love to have a dog, but I travel so much that I wouldn&amp;#039;t want to be a bad owner. DELISH: What&amp;#039;s your favorite room in the house? CS: I like the open kitchen; I sort of got a little table and chairs, so it&amp;#039;s a social area. DELISH: What&amp;#039;s the one feature in this room you couldn&amp;#039;t live without?  CS: I&amp;#039;ve got a beautiful, big bookshelf and an incredible library of cookbooks that I&amp;#039;ve collected over the last 15 years. DELISH: Do you have a favorite? CS: It sort of depends on my mood. Right now, Thai Food by David Thompson \u2014 he worked for the Thai royal family. DELISH: What&amp;#039;s an ideal day at home?  CS: I love it when I&amp;#039;m home in Los Angeles because I&amp;#039;m on the road a lot. I have a nice pool and love lounging by it. An ideal day would start off as a nice brunch \u2014 it&amp;#039;s a nice meal. I&amp;#039;ve got friends popping in with their kids for a swim, then a hike in the afternoon, and then back to my place to attack the grill in the evening. DELISH: When you just want to make something simple, quick, and delicious, what do you prepare? CS: I live on my own, and when people live on their own I think it is the hardest. I don&amp;#039;t want to spend too much time or be too formal at the table, so the best thing to do is make yourself something to eat on the sofa. I did a whole chapter called that, &amp;quot;Something to Eat on the Sofa,&amp;quot; in my book Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone. I have Barbecue Chicken Quesadillas to Sticky Chicken Drumsticks, and Caramel Popcorn. DELISH: How great! Eating on the sofa?! That couldn&amp;#039;t be truer for me too. Next question: If you had an unlimited amount of money to spend on one kitchen item, what would it be?  CS: I&amp;#039;ve had this dream of having a wood-fired oven in my backyard. Had a messy one in the last restaurant I worked at in London. I used to roast langoustines, great pizzas, and great bread. DELISH: What&amp;#039;s the one kitchen item you recommend every cook should have on hand? CS: I&amp;#039;m just about this new thing called the Bump &amp;amp;amp; Grind: It&amp;#039;s a modern-day mortar and pestle. The old kind are too big and become a pain; the modern products have to fit into your kitchen. So it&amp;#039;s shaped more like a bathtub and the spices stay in the vessel. I do spice mixes, homemade pestos; I do curries, garlic and rosemary, and rub it over lamb and steak. It&amp;#039;s a really primitive way of cooking that adds great flavor. DELISH: What are some of your most memorable moments around the dinner table? CS: With my family when I was young my mom made up a game called &amp;quot;The Best and the Worst,&amp;quot; and we&amp;#039;d have to say the best and the worst thing and why. It was stupidly simple, but you get to understand each other a little bit better. There is just some human value and cooperation around the dinner table: You help set the table and clean up, communicate with each other \u2014 so many nice things happen from just cooking a nice, simple dinner. DELISH: If you were to invite a famous person to your house, who would it be?  CS: I don&amp;#039;t know, maybe Shakira? I would cook for her and she could dance. DELISH: Back to reality ... who are your favorite people to host at home?  CS: My friends. Chefs always hang with other chefs. But I&amp;#039;m most nervous to cook for other chefs, because you want to make sure you&amp;#039;re on your game, but it&amp;#039;s always nice to share food with people who really appreciate it.  Find out more about the secret lives of chefs. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/restaurants/a1239/chef-curtis-stone-interview/?src=shelter_footer>