Recipes are just descriptions of one person’s take on one moment in time. They’re not rules.

I don't put cream in any pasta noodles ever. I would use a little butter, but I don't ever use cream.

I put hibiscus flower in every cup of tea I have. It's sweet, sexy, and cleansing.

What I like to do when I go out is enjoy my friends and the food around it. If we have to stop and give five minutes to the chef, then I'm down with that. But if the chef has to interrupt every course to tell us how important this new revolution that's happening is, then I'm not so much interested in that.

My last meal? The food would be much less significant than the company.

When you add just a little bit [of Tabasco] at the end, what you taste is the spectrum between the cooked chile flavor and the kind of nearly raw, just kind of fermented chile flavor at the end.

What will always remain is love, passion and family time.