I was brought up to believe I could achieve anything. My mother instilled in me the belief that there was always something great coming. For example, even though I'm afraid of flying, I always think the plane can't crash because there are so many better things still to come.

At home, I make a large batch of tomato sauce and freeze it in meal-size portions in freezer bags.

I have a Madonna portrait done in the style of a Russian icon. My mother, the chef Lidia Bastianich, and I bought it together. It reminds me of her.

Being frugal, conscious of making money, is not a negative thing. That sensibility of creating value and finding value and reinvesting in those customers is what separates great restaurants from the average ones.

The pressure, the heat, the almost impossibly fast pace at which you need work - this is the reality of working in the culinary industry. This is what professional chefs do night after night.

The best pastas are cut with bronze dies that give them a rough texture and allow the sauce to cling.

The stories of wine lords who trade wine on intimidation or food critics who trade free meals for reviews those are the stories of my life. I am telling the stories of my life in a true way.