Tony Maws

Coming Up

Lineage in this kitchen reads less like a single master class than a steady accumulation of habits. Tony Maws has described his early education with the line, “No one person taught me,” and that stays true to the work he later made at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Massachusetts: food built from observation, repetition, and a refusal to choose between precision and pleasure. The range matters. His cooking has made room for the familiar, including the burger, without letting familiarity flatten the plate.

Where They Are Now

The early service work at Martha's Vineyard in Martha's Vineyard gave Tony Maws a practical education in how hospitality functions in real time: watch, adjust, respond, repeat. That discipline carried into Craigie Street Bistrot / Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Massachusetts (2003–2021), where he moved between innovative and traditional cooking without treating them as opposites. The result was a kitchen identity that kept room for refinement while still respecting the older satisfactions of the table. Today, as Director of Culinary Excellence of Belmont Hill School (since 2023), Tony keeps working inside the same frame: training, service, and the daily labor of feeding people well. It is a continuation rather than a reset, with judgment, patience, and consistency still doing the main work.

Signature

Tony's signature dishes include Craigie Burger. In his hands, it reads as a useful marker: direct, familiar, and built with the same care that shaped the rest of his cooking.

In Their Words “It's not the most inventive, but it's the way I grew up as a cook.” “I think it educated my palate and created an open mind.”

Honors

Tony's honors include James Beard Foundation Award - Best Chef Northeast (2011), James Beard Award Finalist - Best Chef Northeast, Best Chef, Best Chef, Best French Restaurant, and Best Pasta Dream Meal (Gnocchi Parisienne), Best New Chefs Hall of Fame, and One of America’s 10 Best New Chefs.