I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.

Get up every day and try a little harder than the day before.

Food that's beautiful to look at seems to taste better than food that isn't.

When I want to kick it up, I like to add hardwood chips or chunks to the grill; it adds bold smoky flavors. The most common woods are hickory and mesquite, but you can find alder, apple, cherry and, my personal favorite, pecan.

Spain has some of the richest culinary traditions and truly appreciates food that is simply prepared with top-notch ingredients.

I respected it. I submerged myself into it. So on a lot of days off I would go and fish with the fishermen and the families that ran the boats. I would go work the fields with farmers. I would go and talk with farmers about growing particular products for me.

If you think big, then it's going to be big.