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.

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.

I used to say I would never run unless I was being chased by someone with a gun. Now I'm a little obsessed with it!

You don't feel as self-conscious if your clothes fit.

Decide what it is that you are and then stay true to that thing. My brand is based very much on how I live my day-to-day life.

I like feeling like an ox at the end of the day. I like working hard.

I live in, literally, the same home when I was swiping my first bank card and wondering if I'd have to put back the Charmin. We still don't have a dishwasher. My mom has done all these gardens so now my house looks like the garden shack in the middle of Versailles.