My goal is to make Italian food clean and accessible and beautiful and tasty, with simple ingredients that people can find at a local grocery store, because people don't want to go to a gourmet shop in search of items that will sit in their pantry for years after they use just a teaspoon or pinch of them.

I don't eat a lot of anything. A little bit of everything, but not a lot of everything. Small meals all day long.

Don't expect too much from yourself. What I like to do when I have a day off is make various cookie doughs and freeze them. Then I always have that on hand if I need it.

Pretty much every time I try something different or do something in front of a live audience, I truly think they might throw peanuts at me.

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.

Everything in moderation.

In order to keep your husband, you have to make time for him. Rather than going out to dinner, I like to spend time for just the two of us.