When you cut that eggplant up and you roast it in the oven and you make the tomato sauce and you put it on top, your soul is in that food, and there's something about that that can never be made by a company that has three million employees.

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

I was at a party, and some squiggly looking dude with a bow tie came up and said, 'How'd you like to be on TV?' Turns out he was the programming guy at the Food Network. They had me come into the office, and I did a 'Ready, Set, Cook' with Emeril Lagasse, I believe.

The Chinese five-spice works really well in the quantity that I used. It makes it almost imperceptibly just a little bit sweeter without making it really sweet or really even that Asian flavored.

Food, like most things, is best when left to its own simple beauty.

I'm a big fan of featuring all of the local shellfish and seafood provided.

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