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

I try to teach my son about sanitation, especially when handling foods like chicken that could be dangerous. I remind him to wash his hands all the time. When my son cooks with me, he stands on a step stool so he can reach the stove. I teach him about safety and fire.

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 like to keep things simple. It's really about the wine, food and the beach view. Nothing can beat that.

Life just doesn't hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that's the exciting part.

I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.

The cool thing is that now that people have made this evolution where cooking is cool, people are doing it on weekends, they're doing their own challenges. It's back to cooking. And it's real cooking.