Opportunities present themselves and you have to enjoy the ride. All of us get so worried about the next step that we don't enjoy the moment we're in right now.

I think children learning to cook can be such a wonderful thing. It can help build confidence, make them feel good about themselves. It helped me build my ego and even start to get acceptance at school. I'd bring things to class that I'd cooked at home.

I grew up in the kitchen, mostly with my grandfather, my mother and my aunt Raffy.

Talking to other people while you're cooking, it doesn't come naturally.

I have been blessed with a good, fun, and wonderful life, but I've also seen a whole lot of pain.

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's more intimate. Food can connect people in a forever sort of way.