I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.

I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.

I think you've got to keep it simple, keep it fresh. Stay away from all that processed stuff, read the labels.

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

Food is very representative of a city's culture. In order to really get to know a place and the people, you've got to eat the food.

Being a food show and being me, I always kicked it up a notch, which means I would always elevate the spice level or the complexity of a particular dish. So, it was always like we're going to kick this up a little bit.

I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.