Chef Tony Maws opened Craigie Street Bistrot in 2002, with the goal of combining the philosophy and style of the Parisian bistrot moderne culinary movement with local and organic ingredients from New England. He had a hunch this might be a type of restaurant that his Cambridge neighbors might enjoy, but otherwise his ambitions were modest. Word got out, though, and before long his unique approach to cuisine began to earn Tony widespread national acclaim, including being named as one of America's top 10 new chefs by Food & Wine magazine and Boston's best up-and-coming chef by Boston magazine. He has also been featured in Travel & Leisure magazine, Gourmet magazine, the Boston Globe and numerous others. Tony has appeared on NBC's Today Show and Fox News, and has cooked at culinary events in locations as diverse as Singapore and Aspen, Colorado.

This national recognition has not changed Tony's hands-on approach at his little Cambridge bistrot. Far from being an an "executive chef," he works practically every night as a line cook. Additionally, he is one of the few chefs who is also his own wine director.

Since he was a teenager, Tony always worked in a restaurant —16 in all — and has performed every restaurant job. His real culinary training, though, was earned through what might be called "The Long and Winding Road Cooking School" (apologies to Sir Paul McCartney). After earning a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan (which, surprisingly, does occasionally come in handy in the restaurant business), Tony embarked on an eight-year journey that included stints under local chefs Kenneth Oringer at Restaurant Clio and Steve Johnson at the Blue Room; Bernard Constantin at La Rivore in Lyon, France; Roland Passot at La Folie and Wolfgang Puck at Postrio in San Francisco; and Mark Miller at the Coyote Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Tony is particularly grateful to Chef Chris Schlesinger, for giving Tony his first big break: a chance to chop vegetables in at the East Coast Grill.

Tony grew up just across the river in Newton, and now lives in Cambridge with his wife Karolyn and their dog Abby. His interests include the Red Sox, reading cookbooks for pleasure (he has a collection of more than 200), skiing, REM (both the band, and the sleep stage), eating Chinese food, and traveling — particularly to France.