People also respected my culinary acumen and my intelligence, and that was their whole thing. They flew me over, and it was this immersive experience.

I'll go to a restaurant where I've never been before, and someone will say, "I don't have anything big for you to eat." I used to be a little salty about that, but at the end of the day, what they're saying is, "I know who you are. I watch your stuff." What's better than that? Gratitude is the attitude. That's the thing. What am I being pissy about?

The first one that I went to with my friends was with my buddy Michael - and we actually cut class to get tickets - was INXS at the Garden.

Gratitude is the attitude. That's the thing.

There are soccer athletes that are known the world over except in the U.S. Thierry Henry, for example.

People believe what they want to believe. You have to run your race and be proud of the person you see in the mirror.

To be asked to do the pairing menus by Alamos Wineries in Argentina [was the most interesting opportunity]. There are so many chefs out there, and so if you were to say, "The dude who used to host Man V. Food is doing pairing for Jim Beam," you'd say, "Okay, that's kind of conceivable." If you're talking about the dude from Man V. Food is doing pairings for fine wine, then I think people might not necessarily anticipate that.