Chris Toy

Chris Toy has been teaching Asian cooking for over 35 years. Adopted by Alfred and Grace Toy, a Chinese-American couple who met while serving in the US Army during WWll, he arrived in the United States from Hong Kong in 1958, the first infant adopted to the US from the British colony. Chris grew up near Boston, graduating from Quincy Public Schools, Bowdoin College, and Brown University, where he earned a master’s degree in teaching. A former teacher, principal, and international educational consultant, Chris learned Chinese cooking from his mother in their family’s home and restaurant kitchens. As an adult, he explored and became skilled at creating new Asian recipes incorporating fresh local ingredients. Chris started teaching Chinese cooking on weekends at The Whip and Spoon, a local kitchen store in Portland, Maine, to make some extra money, supplementing his first job teaching high school social studies. The combination of teaching and cooking immediately resonated with him. Today, in addition to cooking privately, collaborating on multi-day coastal retreats with local artists, and teaching regularly at kitchen stores, Chris teaches adult education classes in more than a dozen communities around Bath, Maine, where he lives with his wife, Joan. Chris’s popular hands-on classes are built around his teaching skills and his deep appreciation for fresh, simply prepared food. Chris’ cooking incorporates straightforward methods, fresh ingredients, and unique flavors, which all draw family and friends together to enjoy great food and one another’s company. When not sharing his love of cooking Chris, a Registered Maine Guide, enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, and camping trips in the woods and waters of Maine’s great outdoors. Of course, preparing and sharing good food is always a highlight of his excursions. You can find Chris online at christoy.net. Subscribe to his YouTube Cooking Channel at youtube.com/user/cmtoy/videos. Find his Acadian Arts Retreats at acadianarts.com.