I was so nervous to turn 40, but the last year and a half has been the most fun I have ever had.

I think you can tell the food is close to my heart, too, because I'm doing what I do best.

I eat a little bit of everything and not a lot of anything. Everything in moderation. I know that's really hard for people to understand, but I grew up in an Italian family where we didn't overdo anything. We ate pasta, yes, but not a lot of it.

People say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Because people do wild and crazy things in Vegas that they probably wouldn't do any other time. Which is why I feel like, if you're gonna open your first restaurant, this might be the place to do it.

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.

I'm comfortable in my own skin. I know I'm not going to ever be Cindy Crawford or Elle MacPherson.

When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.