Cook more often. Don't study; just cook.

No rules. Don't be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn't have to have rules. I don't like it that way.

A lot of people call me a celebrity chef, but I don't think that I'm a celebrity. So I want to stay keeping just a chef. That's more comfortable.

When I'm on the road, I wake up early and walk a lot. I'm very healthy. But when I come back home, I am more tempted by guilty pleasures, such as eating too many sweets and sleeping a lot.

A kitchen without a knife is not a kitchen.

I'm not a fighter, but in my mind I'm fighting every day. 'What's new? What am I doing?' I'm fighting myself. My soul is samurai. My roots aren't samurai, but my soul is.

I always have dashi in my refrigerator—it's the almighty Japanese ingredient.