I love fresh citrus and always keep lemons, limes, and oranges on hand; they come in handy for spritzing up quickly grilled meats, seafoods, and vegetables, especially when followed up by a quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

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

I love to cook; that's my passion.

Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

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.

Whether it's books or TV, or whatever the case may be, the backbone of what I do is my restaurants.

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.