Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake.

The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.

If you're buying tomatoes pick them up and smell them-they should have a lovely perfume. They need to be kept at fifty degrees or above, particularly during the growing season, because that's when they develop their flavor.

We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life.

Wine is one of the agreeable and essential ingredients of life

I was thirty-seven years old and still discovering who I was.

Because I've done a lot of television, I'm sort of a generalist. I'm not a pastry cook, but I've had to learn a certain amount about it. I'm not a baker, though I've had to learn how to do it. I'm sort of a general cook.