Who is Erin French?
Erin French is an American chef and the owner of the Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat eatery in Maine, USA. She is a self-taught culinary expert, author, and television personality.
Erin is the founder of the Restaurant the Lost Kitchen & Author of ‘Finding Freedom,’ ‘The Lost Kitchen Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom. The said restaurant ‘French’s the Lost Kitchen’ receives over 20,000 Postcards a Year, Making it One of the Most Difficult Restaurants to Book across the Nation because of the Lottery System.
What is the Lost Kitchen all About?
Erin French is the owner and the head chef of the Lost Kitchen restaurant. It is a 40-seat eatery launched in 2014 in an old mill in Freedom, Maine. Time Magazine rated the restaurant as one of the world’s greatest places, while Bloomberg named it one of the “12 Restaurants Worth Traveling Around the World to Experience.”
After she moved back to Maine, French resumed her career in the food industry, organizing secret suppers in her apartment for a few years. Soon, she built a loyal following and launched the Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat restaurant in an old mill in Freedom, central Maine, in 2014. The restaurant has an all-female crew.
In an interview with People about her initial days at the restaurant, French revealed that she used to stand at the stove and stare out the window waiting for the customer. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, I would have never gotten to this beautiful point without all of that pain.’ I kept telling myself that I had to cry all of these rivers to find one waterfall,” she added.
French’s new American cooking quickly garnered her as a powerful advocate of local farmers and producers. Her restaurant has an almost entirely female staff and uses only in-season ingredients sourced from her farmer friends.
By 2016, she had been nominated for a ‘James Beard Award’ and had hosted celebrities such as Martha Stewart. While reservations had gotten out of hand, she came up with the idea of having people send a postcard in exchange for a chance to win a table lottery for charitable causes. Initially, she wanted to help Waldo County Bounty, a grassroots hunger-relief initiative. She initially raised $325,000 in the first two weeks of the initiative.
French now gets over 20,000 cards a year, making it one of the most difficult restaurants to book across the nation. In the year 2022, she is initiating her postcard lottery program to help Maine Organic Farmers and Maine Farmland Trust to help farmers affected by “PFAS contamination.”
Who is Erin French Son?
Erin’s son is named Jaim. She raised her son Jaim (a play on the French j’aime, meaning “I love”) as a single mom and began honing her cooking skills in her parents’ kitchen. Along the way she also fell in love again, got married and, by 2010, was inviting friends over for supper clubs in their apartment in nearby Belfast. There she established her elegant but humble cooking style, using whatever produce was nearby and in season.
“When I started, I didn’t believe in myself enough,” she admits. “But I knew that if I was going to be making simple food, I had to find the best ingredients.” French still considers herself more of a host than a cook. “I love caring for people,” she says. “It’s the setting of the table. It’s getting the lights just right. It’s the music. Watching everyone have that experience is my greatest joy.”
Erin French’s Husband, Michael Dutton, Who is He?
Michael Dutton is the husband of Erin French. He is a graduate of Boston University, Dutton also served as a senior director at IMG Media and has been working professionally since 2006. On the special occasion of their third marriage anniversary, French shared a series of pictures, including their wedding portraits. “Celebrating 3 years of wedded bliss with my best friend. I already love you beyond all words. And the crazy thing is that my love for you just keeps growing exponentially every day. Babe! Here’s to that one online wink that brought us together!!! Happy anniversary!” she captioned the picture.
French’s current husband Michael Dutton is presently employed as an emerging content specialist and a business development strategist. He is a managing partner and co-founder at 6CCMedia.
Conclusion
As of February 2022, French had written three books, namely ‘Finding Freedom in the Lost Kitchen,’ ‘The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom,’ both published on 9 May 2017, and ‘Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch,’ published on 6 April 2021.
‘The Lost Kitchen Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom,’ is a cookbook with 100 recipes from French. It was named one of the finest cookbooks by The Washington Post, Vogue.com, and Remodelista, and was also nominated for the ‘James Beard Foundation Award.’
