I lived my whole life in the kitchen. Not only that, but it's the passion, it's the love for cooking and food. It's dictated my entire life — every aspect of it. So, in some ways, the thought of not being able to do that anymore radically affects your life.

Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art.

It's not really the life of cooking that's hard - it's what you make of it and what level you push yourself to.

What makes the food that we do at Alinea so interesting on the outside is that we really don't let ourselves say no to an idea.

People like to think the creative process is romantic. The artist drifts to sleep at night, to be awakened by the subliminal echoes of his or her next brilliant idea. The truth, for me at least, is that creativity is primarily the result of hard work and study.

If I had one piece of advice for people - if they are cooking from the Alinea cookbook, the Betty Crocker cookbook or the back of the box - read through the entire recipe first before reaching for any ingredients, and then read again and execute the directions.

I hate stuff in my pockets, can't stand it. I'll carry stuff in my hands rather than put it in my pockets.