My family is very far from normal.

You know, it's not the world I would have wanted, for sure.

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

My house is run, essentially, by an adopted, fully clawed cat with a mean nature.

I managed to reach a depth of self-loathing that usually takes a night of drinking to achieve.

What you're going to be eating in the next year is decided by chefs. If the consensus is that pot-bellies are in next season, that's what's on your plate. And I think that's a good thing, because we know, obviously, about food.

I guess my whole life, as much as I might have wanted a child for the reason that everybody wants one, I always recognized that at no point until I was 50 was I old enough or up to the job. I thought, you know what, I not only really want a child, but at this point, finally in my life, I think I'm up to the job and I'm the type of person who could do the job well and I'm financially prepared to look after a child.