I think of [street food] as the antidote to fast food; it's the clear alternative to the king, the clown and the colonel.

I think there's a tendency to over-jack and over-umami food these days.

I'm not searching for hard news; I'm not a journalist, but I'm interested in pushing to boundaries of where we can do the kind of stories that we want to do. I mean, it's a big world and CNN has made it a lot bigger and they haven't flinched.

As a chef I’m not your dietitian or your ethicist, I’m in the pleasure business.

I'm not trying to explain other cultures, or to give a fair and balanced account of a country, or the top ten things you need to know. I'm not trying to spread world peace and understanding. I'm not an advocate or an activist or an educator or a journalist. I'm out there trying to tell stories the best I can.

I'd learned something... Food had power. It could inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight and impress. It had the power to please me... and others. This was valuable information.

I'm a decent cook; I'm a decent chef. None of my friends would ever have hired me at any point in my career. Period.