I love to cook; that's my passion.

I can't tell you enough about cinnamon. Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use and it goes great with something like apples in the morning or in a mixture of fruit or in your oatmeal or even in your cereal.

The most interesting thing I've ever heard about myrself that isn't true is that I'm not a nice guy.

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.

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

Kids are now eating things like edamame and sushi. I didn't know what shiitake mushrooms were when I was 10 - most kids today do.

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.