Chef Curtis Stone leaves no television show unturned

By Derrik J. Lang

AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES

Whether he’s coaching “The Biggest Loser” contestants, filling in for Kathie Lee Gifford on “Today,” co-hosting the Miss USA pageant or barbecuing for Oprah Winfrey, it seems like Curtis Stone is everywhere these days.

In his role on NBC’s new reality TV eatery contest, he’s adding a new title to his ever-growing r sum : investor.

The lanky Australian chef is serving as a financial backer of the big prize — a fast-casual restaurant chain with outposts in Los Angeles, New York and Minneapolis — on “America’s Next Great Restaurant” (premiering tonight at 7) alongside celebrity chef Bobby Flay, Chipotle founder Steve Ells and Miami restaurateur Lorena Garcia.

“Normally, when NBC comes to you and wants you to do a show, you’re like, ‘Woo hoo! I just landed a new show,’” said Stone. “This was different because they actually wanted us to get our checkbooks out. It was interesting because normally when you walk into a meeting with network executives, you kiss their a**, but this time I had a bunch of questions.”

Stone wouldn’t say how much the group is contributing to launch the winner’s restaurant chain, but he insisted, “We’re all equal investors in terms of our financial commitment to it, which means we get an equal say in how this is going to work.” If it flops, Stone already has another gig lined up. He’s the new host of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.”

“It’s a dream job for me,” he said earlier this month on the set of the Bravo cooking competition spin-off, where he’s taken over Kelly Choi’s spot for the tossed-up third season. “When they first approached me, I told them they needed to mix it up and put all of the chefs together in one pool, and they told me that’s exactly what they were doing.”

That means the contest will play out more like a regular “Top Chef” season. Producers dumped the numerical scoring system in favor of having the experienced cheftestants eliminated one by one by the show’s judges, critics James Oseland and Ruth Richel. Stone said he has learned more about his craft from sitting alongside the critics.