Michael Smith

Michael Dixon Smith 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. Career 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, as well as kitchens in South Africa, the Caribbean, 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. Smith started as a chef at The Inn at Bay Fortune in 1991. His first television show, The Inn Chef (1998), was filmed on location at the Inn, and across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Smith lead the team that cooked for athletes in Whistler, British Columbia during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.