My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah, I guess I'm a little bit obsessed.

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

I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.

We're probably close to reaching 2,000 shows, which is more than Julia Child and Jacques Pepin together.

When it ceases to be fun, I'll stop and just stay in my restaurants.

Radishes grow just about anywhere. People think, 'Oh it's just a radish.' But radishes are delicious, and people don't think of cooking them.

When I cook with my son, I might chop vegetables and have fun with different shapes. Cooking is a way to teach kids about other things, like reading or math with all of the weights and measures. There are so many things that are part of cooking that are also very educational.