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.

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.

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.

A tree without roots is just a piece of wood.

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

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

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.