You know that old expression "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game". That line was definitely not coined by a chef. Because for a chef, it's only about whether or not you pull through. If you fail, nobody cares how hard you tried.

I'm a big believer in the negligee, that nearly invisible screen standing between you and the object of your desire.

I happen to love coconut, particularly for that sweet and crunchy texture it adds to any dish.

In Ethiopia, where I was born, all the cooks are women. When I grew up in Sweden, my mom and my grandmother did predominantly all the cooking. Then I changed to restaurant kitchens, where all of a sudden there were just more men than women, and I always thought that was weird.

I feel very fortunate that I was raised in a multicultural family, and it came through food.

I love Europe, but we are still struggling with that kind of development. First of all, we don't have a smart conversation about the difference between an immigrant and a refugee. A refugee can't go back. An immigrant is someone - I chose to move to America. And I also have the option of saying hey, didn't work out, I can move back. That's a completely different story than someone who is locked in.

People come up to me all the time and ask how I stay the way I am, and it's no secret. The first lesson a chef needs to learn is how to handle a knife; the second is how to be around all that food.