It will be a great success to me if my family comes into the restaurant and says that they're proud of what I've done, they're proud of the way I've represented the De Laurentiis name, and that they love my food. That is the moment of pure pride for me.

Every time I think I have something under control, it changes and I don't have it under control. I think it takes several years to get there. Jade is 19 months old, so right now I'm on alert all the time. And as a mom I think you're constantly worrying about things.

I'm into very colorful food. Obviously lots of flavor, but I think we eat with our eyes first, so it has to look great. The presentation has to be great.

Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.

I'm actually a very shy person, which is why I always chose to be in the kitchen. You can make people happy and entertain them, without really being there. You can make a very short appearance and then say, 'I've got something on the stove, gotta go!

My mother and I, our favorite part of any baked pasta is the top, where the cheese gets crusty.

My grandfather's family used to own a pasta factory in Naples and they would go door-to-door selling their pasta. So his love of food came from his parents, which was then passed down to my mother and then again to me.