I learned a long time ago that trying to micromanage the perfect vacation is always a disaster. That leads to terrible times.

'Kitchen Confidential' wasn't a cautionary or an expose. I wrote it as an entertainment for New York tri-state area line cooks and restaurant lifers, basically; I had no expectation that it would move as far west as Philadelphia.

There's something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar - even in this fake-ass Irish pub.

There is no other place on earth even remotely like New Orleans. Don't even try to compare it to anywhere else.

I urge you to travel - as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to.

[George] Orwell's essays. It's got it all. Great writing, a worldview that I find interesting and useful, and most of it timelessly true.

My tastes in what I eat at home would be very familiar to most people who cook for families. I just organize those things a little bit differently.