Bill Blass came in all the time, and I would make him roast chicken with spring potatoes and spring porcini with spring onion. And baby artichokes. And never, ever did he find a better chicken. Norman Parkinson, one of the greatest photographers alive, came every lunch to Le Cirque. And every time he would clean up his plate with his bread and then he would take his marker and write on the plate how much he loved the food. I think at Le Cirque I learned how to make real food, which is what people crave, not just gimmicky things on a plate.

I like to go hear jazz late-night up in Harlem.

For me, the food I like to make is the food I can enjoy all the time anytime. Its not too calculated or technical.

Remember, it is never the knife's fault.

If you aren't born here, to be a real New Yorker, you have to bring your talent, be a successful mentor, and support the New Yorkers who made the city by giving back.

I have a sense of respect: respect for my suppliers, respect for the staff, respect for the customer - as long as they respect us. When we have a customer who is playing a provocative, disrespectful game, then we just prefer to just throw him out, rather than deal with it. Some people, sometimes, are unhappy themselves. And that can really create a frustrating performance to us and to the staff and all that. I don't throw customers out as much as I used to. In the old days, "You don't like it? Get out!" I'm much nicer now.

I learned from my grandmother, because we were cooking a lot for the farm. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.