Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Curtis Stone

Episode Date: July 2, 2026

More of my interview with celebrity chef Curtis Stone. Curtis and I swap proposal stories, and he reveals his son’s foray into show business (spoiler: he’s staring in a movie with the Jonas Brothers!). Plus, Curtis gives tips on getting organized in the kitchen and why hospitality is more than the food. This episode was recorded at Cobi’s in Santa Monica, CA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This summer, I'm in London performing in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium. I'm playing King Herod, which is a role I have never imagined. I'd ever get to say I was playing, but here we are. I'm having a lot of fun. What's interesting about being away for longer stretches of time is that after the excitement of the trip wears off, you start thinking about home, not in a homesick way, just, you know, in a practical way. You realize your home is sitting there empty while you're off having this incredible experience

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We met at Kobe's in Santa Monica, which is one of my favorite restaurants in all of L.A., and as it turns out, one of Curtis's too. over a table full of vibrant dishes inspired by the flavors of Indonesia, Thailand, and India, in a cozy and colorful dining room, we talked about building a restaurant empire and the role that food has played throughout his entire life and career. Now, as you're pulling up a chair, we're talking about why Mexico is such a special place to him, but also me and my husband, Justin. I got engaged in Tulum.

Mm. Oh, how nice. Yeah. We're about to, you know. on a beach, in a restaurant, tell me everything. On a patio. I was, I was trying, I had, I got my husband a Rolex instead of a ring, and on the back had said it'd spend all your time with me,

so that was going to be his engagement. Oh, sweet. And so I was carrying it around, and I kept looking for the right opportunity to propose to him, and something would always happen. and someone would interrupt or like we'd be walking home on the sand and the moon would be shining and then all of a sudden like crabs would start like walking by and Jackson and screaming around my way and so like by the day of four of me hold like carrying around this Rolex I'm like I got to unload this thing like he's going to find it or I'm going to lose it and so it was

like some it was one of the one of the mornings before we left and I was it was out was still in its box or was it was loose because it needed it needed to be small and be able to put it in my pocket right and the box was so big so I had it was still. had in my pocket. And so finally he was having coffee on the patio one morning. And I just like basically threw it out. And I was like, will you marry me? I was like, I got to get this off my hands. So that's how it happened. It was super romantic. Oh my God, I wish you called me. I have almost an identical story. Really? Yeah. I went to London with Lindsay and I picked up the ring in London and I was paranoid. I'd never had anything that valuable in like, and it's a

little thing so it could easily be lost. Right. And I thought the exact same, we flew into Naples and we went to Hosatano and I thought to myself, I'll just wait for the right moment. Yeah. And it never happened. And every time I think it was about to happen, someone would walk around the corner or a waiter and blow their nose or whatever it was, you'd just be like, oh my God.

And at one point, she's like, what's the matter? You're like, really weirdly. Totally. And I was like, I'm fine. You're removed. Yeah. Absolutely. I have totally been there.

Yeah, for like three days. That's so funny. I thought I was the only four. A maniac. I've got a partner in it. So how did it end up happening? Same thing. You just threw it at her and said, we can marry me. I did it in the room.

Yeah. In the hotel. I was like, that's kind of perfect, though. Let's just stay in tonight and have a bottle of champagne. So we just sat on the balcony. And yeah, that's how I did it. That's nice.

Yeah. I mean, you hear these stories about people bearing it and like the dessert and all this stuff. I'm like, how do they have to? time to do all this. It's too much. I mean, it all worked out. I mean, you've been what, married now? How many? No, well, we did it backwards. We had Hudson first. Got it. And then, much to her family's disappointment. And then we got married the next year. Okay. So you're, but you're coming up on like 15 years? Okay, yeah. So just almost the same as me. I got married in 2013. So right. Yeah.

Where did you do? Where'd you marry? We got married in New York. It was right after marriage equality was legalized in New York. And so we planned the wedding there, and then it became legal in L.A. shortly after that, we'd already planned to get married in New York. But it was like right around that time when, you know, things were shifting in America. And marriage equality was such like a moving target.

Which is so stupid. how anyone thinks they've got the right over someone else's decisions is beyond me. I know. It's only just happened in Australia in the last four or five years, and it was just so maddening that, you know, it took us so long as a country that bribes itself on being progressive in the way they think. That's right. But anyway.

Yeah. I mean, I remember when New Zealand, it happened way before Australia. Right. And I remember because I always feel it's a bit of competition between New Zealand and Australia. And that was something New Zealand was very proud. Like, well, we did this first, you know. We beat you to that one. Oh, yeah.

No, but it's, yeah, it was wild because my husband worked on marriage equality. He worked on the Proposition A case. And then also, in that same time, I was getting married on television. So there was just a lot of, like, it felt very symbiotic and, like, it meant to happen at that time. And it just all felt. I don't know, I felt really special that I could be part of, obviously, a relationship on TV that was pushing forward, you know, acceptance of marriage equality and just like, you know, bringing a gay couple into so many households through, you know, their love with the TV show. Yeah. But then at the same time, I have this, like, really personal private thing that was happening with me and being able to get married to, you know, my husband.

husband. It was, it was, it was, because I felt like one was sort of helping the other and vice versa in a weird way. That's cool. That's cool. So, yeah. Life imitating out. I didn't say, both. I mean, truly both. I mean, like, Justin was fighting for marriage equality and that was one of the reasons I got to get married, but also the reason that, like, Mitch and Cam got to get married, because that was, they lived in the real, real world, but all of us. And it's like, they weren't going to get married if it wasn't legal in the United States. And, you know, and then also the fact that Mitch and Cam, I think, helps bridge a gap between people who, you know, felt so distant from the gay community. Yeah.

You know, helped a lot of my family members, you know, accepts my marriage. It was very, I don't know, it was all very lovely. That's cool. You know, it's crazy that we are still, like, kind of fighting for things, but. Yeah. The fight goes on. Yeah. Wow.

In 2026. You think we'd have at all figured out by now. But here we are in the middle of a world. That's right. That's right. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Curtis opens up about his son's unexpected leap into the entertainment industry. And the simple kitchen trick he thinks can make home cooking a whole lot less stressful.

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With the Jonas Brothers. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, so I had decided to audition for this movie. He's a musician. He plays a guitar, and he's quite talented. And he Anyway, Lindsay was like,

I got a phone call today from someone that she worked with who thinks she should audition for this movie and he was like, I'll do it. And I'm like, had he done anything? Never. He'd never done anything.

Oh my God, if there's only this easy for all of us. I said so Lindsay, what if he gets it? She's like, honey, there's no way on God's Green Earth, he'll get it. He's never done anything. This is his first audition. So anyway, he sends in the tape And then they want to see him, and then they see him, and then they say, you know what?

Not for this role, but for actually one of the lead roles we'd like to see you. So, Lindsay and I are just sort of standing there with our mouth open, and sure enough, he books the job. He goes... He's one of the leads? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. That's incredible.

That's crazy. Yeah. And now he's writing songs, and he's like... Go get a job! Right? Oh, my God. He's all over it. He just signed a record deal with...

Hollywood Records. Why is he... Get him on this podcast. Yeah, you should be interviewing him and I could be cooking your lunch. Oh no. That's incredible. I mean, are you nervous about him

being in the entertainment world since, I mean, you have obviously... Yeah, so nervous. You know, it's interesting. I think the more you know, it's almost easier to be blind to it, right? Right. You know that fame is a great thing

or think that fame is a great thing, But once you've lived it a little bit, you're kind of like, huh, how's this going to be for him? Because it happened to me when I was an adult. Right. But for him, he's still a kid, so you wonder. But I'm more than anything, just so stoked for him because he's doing what he absolutely loves.

That's great. He's doing sessions of music every night after school. Yeah, he's so happy. God, that's incredible. That's crazy. You must be so proud. Yeah, I am. I am.

Wait, is Lindsay's an actress, right? Yes. She's an actress, and she's a songwriter, so that's clearly where he's. he gets all of his talents. He can't cook to save his life. So I've failed miserably, and she's the champion of the family. There's still time.

I was a, I had no skills in the kitchen, and now I consider myself very hept. Yeah. Yeah. So what's a weeknight meal for you? Oh, God. It's been so long since I've actually cooked. I mean, I tend to cook, like, clean for me, for myself.

But, like, you know, big flavor. Fish, chicken. I don't grow super crazy. I'm from New Mexico, so I do, a lot of like Southwest cooking. Southwest, yeah. Hatch chilies. That's right, yeah.

I mean, when I was, when I did your show in your beautiful studio in Malibu, you made me what did we do? We did something that was very very straight. It was a, was it not foie gras.

There was what was it that we had? I'm trying to remember now. Oh, she counted very, very, exciting. No, I remember I was scared to try. No, it was, it was like a... I think I took you out of your comfort zone.

You did. No, you scared me with something. Was it liver? It was liver. It was liver. It was liver. Yeah. It was something that I was not comfortable eating. And it was delicious. I have a tendency to put people in that because I'm sorry. Yeah, and you made me like help cook it. Yeah.

Listen, it was delicious. It was great. but that's all to say like I I have gotten better I'm braver in the kitchen since I've been older so there's still time for your kids good for sure I don't know did I tell you when I was when I was on your show

that I it was always sort of my dream to go to culinary school yeah yeah which blew me away because you meet people that are so talented and artistic but I've heard that a lot from people actually Well, you had Terry Hatcher on your show. And she did go to culinary. Yeah. She's the one who's sort of inspiring me to actually do it.

I haven't, by the way. And she really did it. I mean, she took time off and she did it. And you know, our mutual friend Ellen Bennett. Yes. She went back to culinary school. And while she was, you know, raising two young boys and doing her kitchen renovation show, it's like, people make it work.

So I don't really have an excuse. But it's something I still would really love to do. It's interesting. Like I've watched Lindsay work over the years as an actor. Uh-huh. And, you know, you start with a theme or a script, but then you interpret it however you want as an actor, right? And the same with watching HUD make music.

You start with a bunch of sounds, and you put them together and layer them over the top of each other and have a narrative, and you develop it. And then I think about food, and I think it's quite a similar construct in many ways. You just start with ingredients, and then whatever, And however you want to express yourself with those ingredients is what you do. You put the technique over the ingredients and then suddenly you're cooking, you know, and you're serving someone food.

So there's something quite artistic about all those different things. I completely agree with you. It's such an overlap. Yeah. Absolutely. Such an overlap. So I do feel like you're right. Like my mind might be drawn to that because I think that's completely accurate.

do you just hearing you speak about like you know when you say it sounds so easy you know you just take technique and you overlay it with like delicious ingredients but like you know it's not as easy as that

but do you think that there is something that like I've always wondered this with like people who cook at home that there's like a simple thing that people could do to like just make things easier I think people get very overwhelmed when they have to you know

put a meal together and I think a lot of it's overthinking. Right. But, I mean, is there something that you, if like people just knew a certain thing that... You know what I think it is? Yeah. It's, when we plan out what we're going to cook,

we sit down and plan it out. And we come up with the idea, right? And then we'll actually go as far to write a Mison Plus list of all the different bits of the preparation. I love a Mizant Plus. for those who do not know, it's like, it just makes you

immediately feel like you're in a cooking show. You just chop up all the ingredients, get everything ready, it's the greatest. That's what I most like about cooking, is I find it very meditated. It is.

But then you also get a good sense of, well, how long is it's going to take me? Right. Because you itemize it all, you know? Now, I'm a nerd, but I'll go to the point of taking post-it notes

and writing what the ingredient is on a post-it note And then I'll stick those things on my kitchen counter, right? Yeah. And then if I'm going to serve multiple things, I'll go and select the platters or the plates or whatever, and I'll stick a post-it note with what's going to go on it, onto that. So it's a little plan.

It's just an organizational structure. So then when you actually are cooking, you're like, right, I've got to chop the onions. You cut the garlic, and then you get the chicken legs. So then you end up with it all out. So it's kind of like you're prepping yourself to do your own little cooking show. Right. Because once you have it all,

And you see this, people cook on TV, and you're like, oh, God, it looks so easy when you do it. Well, yeah, because we have it all done. It's all out. We're just combining it all, you know? So I think when you're cooking at home, quite often people will just start. They'll just start peeling an onion, cutting it, put in the pan. And then it's a race.

Now I've got to get the next thing done before those onions bloody burn. You know, so I think that first step of playing the stress out of it. Yeah, really. Plan it out. Yeah. Yeah. Now for quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Curtis shares why a restaurant is about so much more than food.

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And we're back with more dinners on me. Did you discover this place when first open? See, there's this little chef mafia, and we all know each other. Uh-huh. And one of the guys that worked with me was like, there's this Kiwi guy. and there's a Kiwi and an Aussie and one of them did the design here and one of them was in the kitchen

you've got to go down there so I was like okay and I came down and I was like oh my God because it's sort of all these different Southeast Asian curry you get something from India something from Malaysia

there's Indonesian stuff on the menu so it's kind of this really interesting mix of food so we came down really early on and there's no one here the light was low and they're playing reggae and place is beautiful.

And I was like, oh, this place has got it, you know. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a special. Hello. Hi, hi, how are you? Good to see you. Nice to meet you. How are you?

How are you? Nice to see you. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for this. So good. No worries. Yeah, what have we got here? So incredible.

It's so incredible. Yes. Everything is so delicious. The pawns we had is incredible. Amazing. Yeah. So you started with the prawns. What else have you needed?

We had the, We had the Kampachi. Mm-hmm. The salad, the... The... Green papaya salad. Oh, yeah. The prawns with the head on.

Yes. Did you eat the head? Of course. Good. Yes. Of course. Nice. Perfect.

Have you been here before? I have. Okay. When did you sneak in? I came... I've been here twice. I was always on the patio. Okay.

But it's been a while. I haven't been here in like a year. Well, welcome to that. Thank you. I love it. I was so excited when Curtis picked it. Oh, good. Yeah. Good, good.

It's good to see you. It's nice to see you too. I drive by all the time, but I know how difficult it is for you guys to give out tables these days. You're busy, busy, busy. Congrats. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah, what's going on?

I was here right at the beginning when you guys were just... You were a very early adult. Yeah, yeah. So thank you, you're just... You're just... You're just... You're kidding me? Yeah.

Have you been back recently? I, you know what, I don't live too far away, so we get you delivered to our home. Oh, I see. Nice. Probably once a week. What's your, like, go-to order? Well, my kids, like, we start with the prawn crackers and the, what are the other chips that you do? Oh, the cassava chips? Because they're white, and they're so, like, only it's white things.

Yeah, that's my little guy. Is it really? He's so picky. Wow, okay. So he starts munching on those immediately. This is one of my favorites, the beefering dad. Yeah. Yeah.

Everything, every single thing on your menu is fabulous. Oh, thank you. There was something I... Curry puffs are so good. Yes, there was something I ordered when I came here last time, and then we got a second round of it. It was so good. I don't remember what it was, though.

I have to like the menu. Do you like the... My favorite is the devil chicken curry, so... That might have been what it was. Yeah. I know. Did you do the design inside? I did.

It's gorgeous. Thank you. Thank you. I wanted to feel like stepping into your grandma's, like, living room, dining room, so that's kind of the vibe. It's great. We've got a second location,

opening off soon, which I'm very excited about. Enlargemont. Oh, well, done. Perfect. That's great. Congrats. Thank you. Oh, my God.

You're going to make a large money even more crazy. Oh, yeah? With Max and Houns and now you? Oh, man. We're not going to be in, like, the main village area, but we've got this cool old space. It's an old Croftsman bungalow. So, yeah, I'm very excited about it. Is it far, it's on lodgment, though, right?

No, it's on Mowlo's. Oh, okay. Got it, got it. Okay, I know what you're talking about, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Kind of up near, um. Opposite Paramount. Sure.

Yeah. Oh, that's so great. Very excited. I like me. Yeah. Have you guys been here for brunch, though? I have not. No.

Okay, so I think the brunch menu is on par with the dinner one. So, oh my God. It is banged. It's so good. Okay. But next time, comfort brunch, it's really, really good. And then during the summer, we have like live music and stuff. It's also happening.

Great. Yeah. Yeah. Nice to see you. Love to see you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

And some desserts and stuff coming to you're probably. Not wanting anything additional, but it's coming. We'll look at it. Make space, yeah. Do you guys want drinks or anything? I'm okay with my water. Sure, we've got this really, it's not an alcoholic. It's a garden shrub, and we make it in-house,

and it's like a little, similar to kombucha, but we ferment it with apple cider vinegar and berries. I mean, if you brought that out to me, I would eat it. Eat it, I would drink it. Sure, let's get crazy. Bye-bye. I think so wild with some kombucha. What's your heart out for?

5.15. You got a date? I've got a hot date. A call with my son's teacher. Oh. Better be a good one, Emerson. Yeah. No, it's just a check-in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a good kid. I mean, the stress that comes with having kids, it's just, I was not prepared for that. Just always worried. It's crazy. calls when you're like, you have a call with the teacher. It's just like...

But when they're young, I remember when we first got home, I was home for two weeks and I was like, why didn't anyone tell me it was this hard? Yeah. It's brutally difficult. Yeah. And the sleep deprivation is like, it's literally torture.

Yeah. And I can remember talking to my brother and being like, mate, you never told me. I feel like they did and we just didn't listen. Maybe. You know? I feel like. someone really needed to pull me aside and put their hands on my shoulders and be like,

no, you don't understand. It's really, really hard. Yeah. Look at me. It's really hard. You know what I mean? Because, I mean, did you always want to be a dad? I spoke to my mom.

I said, what's it going to be like? And she was the most honest of everyone. She said, well, you're just going to have to find out for yourself, love. Well, she was right. And it's the truth. And I spoke to her after it, and she was like, no one can prepare you for it. Like, you just have to experience it. And I was like, well, you can prepare me a little bit.

Right, right, right. But it gets easier and easier and easier and more fulfilling and more fulfilling. But then I guess once they become teenagers, it gets a whole lot harder. It's just a different set of problems, I think. Right. You know? You're in a place now because your kids are, what, you say, 11 and 14. 14.

Yeah. That seems like a really fun age. It is. Like right before things can take a turn. Yeah. Yeah. Were you a good kid? No.

Really? No, I wasn't. I found school really difficult. Didn't like it. Which now I'm at that place with my own kids where I'm like, I wonder how honest I should be. Because he said to me the other day, Hansen still getting incredible grades.

And he's like, what are your grades like at my age? And also, comparable. And they may have been, but they could be switched there. Well, what was the school like? What's a school system like in Australia? Was it something that... Quite traditional. Okay.

Yeah. And I went to a grammar school, a boy's only formal, tied, blazer, cap, socks pulled up to the knee. Okay. Yeah. And did you gravitate toward any subject

that was somewhat interesting, or... I couldn't get out of there fast enough if I'm being really honest. Really? I think once I sort of got to 17, you know, to year 11 or 12, I started to get a little more into the business stuff,

the economics, the politics, the politics, the, like I became more interested in it. But not interested enough to go to university. I was like, I'm going to go to university. But you did go to culinary school? Yeah, yeah, in Australia. Yeah. And then from there went to London. I did, yeah.

And you had success pretty early, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, I worked for great people. Yeah. That was my fortunate thing that I was working in incredible restaurants. I mean, it sort of seems like the same. I always feel like with acting, you know, the best schooling is actually doing it and like being amongst your peers and watching and observing and getting to work alongside

people who already get at what they do. And I imagine that's probably very much the same in the restaurant industry. Yeah, it really is. You know, I think you sort of, we're talking before about technique. and you know as a cook it's kind of all you've got is learning how to poach, sear, fry, roast,

braise, like once you understand all of those techniques really well then you can get created and be like all right what can I do with these ingredients how can I use that a little bit of this and you can sort of start telling stories to your food a bit more

but you do need to understand that technique quite well, I think, you know, because if you don't, then you kind of just, it's a bit sloppy. Yeah. And then the artistic side of it can kick in and you can get kind of crazy with it, which I love. You know, like that's sort of that performance side of it where, you know, when you think about a restaurant like this one, it's just a blank campus, it's got walls on a floor on a ceiling and a kitchen. And then you give it its personality.

And then you invite people into that space and you do something for them each night. and when you actually stop and think what is the art of hospitality it's not just food in fact food's only a tiny piece of it because I can order their food at my house but I want to come here

because of how I feel when I walk in the room and I think that's the interesting thing about ambiance is design and lighting and sound and volume and smell and it's all of these things

in these tiny little doses, but there's no recipe to it. You know, like, and that's what's so challenging, but also fulfilling about getting it right. That was a little more from my conversation with Curtis Stone. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on Dinner's on Me. This episode of Dinner's On Me was recorded at Kobe's in Santa Monica, California. Next week on Dinner's On Me, you know her as Charlotte York Goldblatt and Sex in the City, and just like that, it's Kristen Davis. We'll talk about the influence her.

fellow Sex and the City co-stars had on her as a person, her incredible volunteer work shedding light on the refugee crisis around the world, and will get into her decision to adopt two kids on her own. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasney and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week. I may not hold a diamond, but I do hold a few opinions about Bravo. I'm Sarah

Galley, certified bravo-holic and host of Andes Girls, the only Bravo podcast that takes a housewives as seriously as they take themselves. Recorded straight from my closet office or as I lovingly refer to it, the clothist. This show offers a psychological deep dive into the drama on and off screen, not to recap per se, but to understand what's really going on. Think of it as C-SPAN meets Ayanla Fix My Life, a little stream of consciousness, a little emotional autopsy, and a whole lot of nuance.

From housewives themselves to culture writers, comedians, and everyday bravo-holics, I'm joined by rotating guests to explore the psychology behind Bravo's most fascinating personalities. Because when someone storms out of a reunion or rewrites their own history midseason, we don't just ask what happened. We ask why. So if you're looking for something different than a recap and deeper than a soundbite, you're in the right place. New episodes of Andy's Girls drop every week, streaming from the clothist to wherever you get your podcasts. Say bon, say bon. Say bon.