I wasn't passionate about food until I'd been cooking for a while. I started long before food became part of the mainstream media. I just wanted to cook, period.

I prefer lump charcoal over briquettes but I do use both for different reasons and different recipes and sometimes I combine them both when I really want the woodsy aroma from the lump charcoal and long, even heat from the briquettes.

You can't chase everybody on the Internet who's saying stuff about you, that's for sure.

Even if the chef has a good business head, his focus should be behind kitchen doors. A business partner should take care of everything in front of the kitchen doors.

Charcoal or gas. Both give excellent results, so choose the one that best suits your style of cooking.

Grilling outside with my parents at the Jersey shore. We would grill lobster and corn in the summer.

Grilling takes the formality out of entertaining. Everyone wants to get involved.