My family... always had the value of the family table and these cultural influences of growing up.

I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.

We're setting up an urban farm for kids on more than 20 acres in New Orleans. We want to make this a world-class educational center for the community.

Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. It's sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. It's always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.

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.

I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.

If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.