I don't have a favorite cooking tool. In the kitchen, I always have my pencil and notebook in my hand. I cook more theoretically than I do practically. My job is creative, and in the kitchen, the biggest part of my creativity is theoretical. The pencil has a symbolic meaning for me. The type of person who carries a pencil around is the type of person who's open to change. Someone who walks around with a pen isn't; he's the opposite.

You cannot get an influence from the cuisine of a country if you don't understand it. You've got to study it.

Creativity means not copying.

What's wrong with transforming food?

I had a very normal childhood, and my mother cooked very normal food.

Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster.

Everywhere the sky is blue. There are a multitude of cuisines and dishes. I think of them as the languages and dialects of food.