Growing up in New England, being schooled and classically trained, it needed to shake, it needed to evolve.

My inspiration was my mom. She's a great cook, and she still cooks, and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community, food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.

A lot of parents ask me how to get kids to eat more vegetables. The first thing I say is that it starts from the top.

You are going to be what you put in your body, so I try to teach that to my kids, and the kids around me.

I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?

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

Spice is life. It depends upon what you like... have fun with it. Yes, food is serious, but you should have fun with it.