Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.

Good food and good eating are about risk.

I wasn't that great a chef, and I don't think I'm that great a writer.

Luck is not a business model.

People are generally proud of their food. A willingness to eat and drink with people without fear and prejudice... they open up to you in ways that somebody visiting who is driven by a story may not get.

As you move through this life...you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you.

I think we should be honest about who is working in our kitchens.