Excellence is about fighting and pursuing something diligently, with a strict and determined approach to doing it right. It's okay if there are flaws in the process - it makes it more interesting.

The art of cooking is among the most intimate things that we can do for another.

I’m all about making money. It’s the greatest thing, because it means you get money to spend.

I have always looked at it this way: If you strive like crazy for perfection - an all-out assault on total perfection - at the very least you will hit a high level of excellence, and then you might be able to sleep at night. To accomplish something truly significant, excellence has to become a life plan.

Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit.

I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool.

What I was reading was already part of my psyche, but finally someone else was saying it's okay to walk alone.