The impression that is out there about me is that I'm really hard-nosed, but the people who really know me, know that I am a soft touch.

I don't consider myself a rock star chef, I really don't. I cook for a living and I try to help out as many people as I can in my life and that's all I care about. I don't care about the fame of television, I use to a lot.

The impression that is out there about me is that I'm really hard-nosed, but the people who really know me, know that I am a soft touch.

Whenever I deal with children or the military, that becomes special to me.

I found that most people who buy restaurants should never have done it, because they don't understand money.

What I learned about America is that anything is possible, but sometimes people get into businesses they shouldn't be in. They go in without capital or know how, but their mothers had told them that they could cook, and they're good with people.

For years - especially in England where I come from - cooking was a subservient job. When I told my Dad I was going to be a cook, he wouldn't talk to me for two years. Even though it was associated with my military service, he thought cooking was beneath me.