I can unload my opinion on anybody at anytime.

I think it's a universal truth that most chefs I know are happiest eating simple, unadorned good things.

The roots of creativity of cooking are hungry people trying to figure out how to take something that's not particularly fresh or tender and transform it into it something delicious that everyone will love.

The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f---ing bad for you. If I were on at seven at night and loved by millions of people at every age, I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it's OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks.

I feel that if Jacques Pepin shows you how to make an omelet, the matter is pretty much settled. That's God talking.

The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca.

I'm not besotted with the notion of being on CNN to the point that I'm going to suddenly morph into Anderson Cooper or Christiane Amanpour. I'm not a foreign correspondent.