My mom, who's been in the restaurant business for 40 years, is the number-one influence in my life. But I look up to a lot of people in the industry. Tops on my list is Mario Batali. My mom and Mario taught me the same lesson: Food is love.

What I've learned is that at the end of the day, we are all human. We all have that in common.

Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home.

I tried to bake a cake for my mother's birthday - it took me four hours. It was terrible, and I cried for three days.

My dream job is to be a rock drummer and the alternate drummer for the Foo Fighters.

I have learned how to breathe, to use my cords differently. I had been tilting my head in a way when I talked that wasn't good for my throat. I've been working on all of that, and it seems to be helping.

Food was always a conduit in our family for storytelling, and it was a way for us to keep in touch and remember things. We're people that use food to keep each other together and to always cheer us up and make all of our days better.