Techniques are not the most difficult to teach. The attitudes chefs take are much more important.

The Asian airlines have the best wine programs.

A man obsessed: obsessed with perfection, sharing, aesthetics, taste, savoir-faire, and much more.

Everywhere in the world there are tensions - economic, political, religious. So we need chocolate.

It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten. It is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience.

I have a very modern way of thinking; the chef is there to lead the team and not just to sit behind the piano.

The image foreigners have of French cuisine is fattening and very fancy food. But it's not true - French food isn't just rich. The word "healthy" doesn't exist in French. We have many, many words, but not that one. To me, healthy means paying close attention to feeding people.