Everyone makes pesto in a food processor. But the texture is better with a mortar and pestle, and it's just as fast.

I come from an Italian family. One of the greatest and most profound expressions we would ever use in conversations or arguments was a slamming door. The slamming door was our punctuation mark.

Day-old bread? Sadly, in America a lot of day-old bread just becomes nasty. Italian day-old bread, not having any preservatives in it, just becomes harder and it doesn't taste old. What I would warn people about is getting bread that's loaded with other things in it, because it starts to taste old.

The Gulf Coast has the potential to create a culinary raw ingredient paradise that smart cooks can capitalize on.

Michigan is my antidote to Manhattan. This is where I come to relax.

I think that there is philanthropy and there is publicity. If you can marry the two to do something good, then I think it's great. Some of the other guys go around and slag people as a profession. That's not so interesting to me, because it's easy to take down, it's harder to build.

Find something you love, because if you love what you do, you'll never spend a day at work.