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.

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

Classical cooking and molecular gastronomy should remain separate...you can mix two styles and get fusion; any more and you just get confusion.

Everyone talks about Spanish influences, but where is it?...Tell me 10 great Spanish restaurants in London....You can’t give me the addresses. Nor in Paris.

Tasting a dish should be memorable If nothing remains in the memory of a single guest, then I have made a mistake.

The proportion of ingredients is important, but the final result is also a matter of how you put them together. Equilibrium is key.

Cuisine has become too complicated - this is about subject, verb, adjective: duck, turnips, sauce.