When I met my wife 20 plus years ago, she was a vegetarian, so I was the closest thing to the devil that she had ever met.
Michael SymonThe great thing about chefs as celebrities is it gives you a larger stage to let people know how important great food is. You're able to reach a nation. The hardest thing about being a celebrity chef is you go from working 18-hour days in your kitchen to it pulling you out of your kitchen here and there. I used to be in my kitchen six or seven days a week, and for ten years I never even took a vacation.
Michael SymonThe exposure from 'Iron Chef' has been helpful, but at the end of the day your product and your service determine whether you get customers or not. If people decide to eat out less during a recession, the first restaurants that they will cut out are the ones that don't do a great job.
Michael SymonIf you learn a recipe, you can cook the recipe. If you learn the technique, you can cook anything.
Michael Symon