My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis.

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.

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

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

Books make great gifts because they expand your horizons and keep you cooking.