It's important to have balance in your life between work and play.

I still love making hamburgers on the grill. I guess whenever I eat them childhood memories come up for me.

Cooking is a subject you can never know enough about. There is always something new to discover.

I think a lot of times people design restaurants with flash in mind. I think you should design restaurants with function in mind. Make sure it's functional and works with what you're trying to accomplish. Design can come later.

When I go to a restaurant, I eat three-quarters of the food in front of me. That cuts my calorie intake by 25 percent.

Nobody believed the 'Food Network' could last. Even I was short sighted and thought to myself, 24 hours of food on TV? They'll run out of things to talk about in four days! But that wasn't true. 'Food Network' continues to get better and evolve.

Take risks and you'll get the payoffs. Learn from your mistakes until you succeed.