Marco Pierre White Quotes

I'm not a worrier. I like sleeping.

When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.

How many chefs when I was a young boy shouted at me during service? All I ever said was "Yes, chef." The customer is the most important. If the chef overreacts, fine. At the end of service, you apologize.

Once you accept you are being judged by people who have less knowledge than yourself, then what's it worth?

There are many times in my life, when I could've thrown in the towel. Many times in my life when I was on the floor. And when you're on the floor, never allow anybody to pick you up. It doesn't matter how long you stay there, make sure you pick yourself up and dust yourself down. Whatever happens, whether you go home today or you don't go home today, that's irrelevant. What's relevant, is you take the knowledge from the experience and you grow as a person.

Nine out of ten English chefs have their names on their chests. Who do they think they are? They're dreamers. They're jokes. Just ask yourself how many chefs in this country have Michelin stars and how many have their names on their jackets. We all wear blue aprons in my kitchen because we're all commis. We're all still learning.

We're in a world that is run by accountants and I think that it's sad in many ways.

If the lift is broken, I'll just sit and wait for them to sort it out. I don't believe in friendly conversation or chit-chat.

I wasn't manufactured. I was cut from the cloth of the very old world of gastronomy. There was no such thing as celebrity chefs, chefs were trained and I like to think that I still represent those old values from that world and the opportunities that I am offered I often say no to.

Chefs today choose to step onto that treadmill where they have to be seen. Every day they have to go to this party, they have to go to that party. But then you think "Who is doing the cooking?".

You have to shout in the kitchen to deliver the orders, to drive the troops, to get the food out. When you have a table of eight courses and everyone's having something different, you have a 15-second window to get it all together so no one at the table waits.

Today there are very few chefs at that high level who are behind their stoves. You don't feel their presence within the room. Where's the romance? Where's the show? Where's the theater? The modern day restaurant - it's like dining in a chapel. It's boring.

I can't imagine anything worse than trying to impress a girl with dinner. To be honest, I'm always impressing myself, not other people.

I didn't understand myself well enough be an ambassador to my world, to inspire people to want to cook, to inspire young people to want to come into my industry.

I came from the old world of gastronomy. Many years ago I walked into the kitchens of the Hotel St George and I feel very fortunate that I worked for chefs that were behind their stoves. I saw that world of gastronomy. I can sit here today and say that I saw the golden age of gastronomy. It's gone, it's gone. It's never going to have that anymore, once the accountants get involved the romance fades. That's the reality.

If you've been given opportunities then you have to create opportunities. If you're given knowledge by people, share your knowledge. If you were born with talent, show your talent off.

At the end of the day it's just food, isn't it? Just food.

I just want my children to be happy. And to be good people. Proper people. That's all.

I have no problem in asking a diner to leave for two reasons: 1. If they are rude to my staff. No one has that right. If we make a mistake, allow us to rectify it. 2. If they are loud and abusive at the table. They have no regard or respect for the other diners, who may have worked very hard to save up their cash to afford your prices.

In London I'm not seen in public. I don't go to award ceremonies or gatherings. I just don't go because I like my privacy. I like being with my family and I like being in their company. I work very hard and I don't have much time so I just want to be with my family or in the English countryside. I don't take holidays.

People who can give themselves every day. They're the people that I admire, they're real people.

I have no regrets in my life. If not for the mistakes that I made I would not be the man I am today.

If you are not extreme, then people will take shortcuts because they don't fear you.

I've never tried to be a celebrity chef, people call me that but I was that young boy that the media chose.

It's not about what you achieve, it's actually what you do for your industry and that's what I think is important. And when people look at me and they see my achievements with the restaurants do you know what I think? I think I did more than that. What I achieved was teaching young men and young women when they were young and inspiring them.

The more I invested in myself, the kinder I was to myself and the more I understood myself.

You walk into a restaurant when chefs are not there and it's different. The magic isn't there. Why pay top pounds when the chef is not in the house? I feel cheated. I don't mind paying big money for food but if I go to Paul Bocuse's restaurant I want Paul in the house.

I think if you've been given something in life you have a moral duty to give things back.

Gastronomy is the French Foreign Legion. You don't need any qualifications. Just walk through the door and keep your head down. Be respectful - "Yes chef!" - and you'll be given a trade. One day you'll be in a position where you can put a roof over your children's heads, you can put food on their table, create security for them.

Once you grow up and discover yourself as a human being you look at things for what they are.

A tree without roots is just a piece of wood.

Mother Nature is the true artist and our job as cooks is to allow her to shine.

Don't dress for others, dress for yourself. Clothes should be an extension of what you represent and what you feel inside.

I've paid my price, a high price, I watched my mother die. I look at everything I've been given now as a form of compensation. A person who has regrets is a person who casts anchors.

I spent my days on the riverbanks, in the woods, in the fields, shooting, hunting and stalking. I unravelled everything within my life. Self discovery is most important to me.

Do I shout, belittle or swear? No. I have sufficient confidence within myself to control my environment just by my presence, just by working hard and leading from the front.

The most poisonous source in any kitchen is a chef's ego.

People do peculiar things in life and they do for whatever reason but I think one of the greatest crimes in life is when you lie.

Success is born out of arrogance, but greatness comes from humility.

It's extraordinary these obsessions. You conquer one but then you move onto another.

I like things that are educational and educational. I like things that are inspirational.

I find supermarkets fascinating places. It's extraordinary, you can buy anything there.

Eating is one of the most important aspects of living. I like indulging. I like to eat one food at a time, to savor each individual thing.

A lot of my reputation is a product of exaggeration and ignorance.

Gastronomy is the greatest form of therapy that anyone can be exposed to.

I don't do social events, I don't do award ceremonies, I don't do charity dinners. I live my life off-radar.

I cannot teach anybody how to cook. All I can do is show them, share methods with them.