I really like to sometimes go into food detox and eat very simply.

The best thing you can do for someone is make them a beautiful plate of food. How else can you invade someone's body without actually touching them?

I think eating in itself is the act of great sensuality, so all you have to do is point the camera in the right direction.

The cookbooks and the writing in general have been a real bonus, but it's not something I've ever pursued... I've been lucky, I guess.

I always loved my bangles, I can't remember a time when I didn't have a bangle on.

Flowers die and wine gets consumed. Both are lovely. I appreciate both. Wine and roses. I actually had someone bring me a lobe of foie gras once.

Part of my job as a food writer is to describe food. So my work on 'Top Chef,' I feel, is an extension of that. When we give a criticism to the contestant, we want to make sure we tell them why it's not working and why it would work if they did it a different way.