Hopefully, imparting what's important to me, respect for the food and that information about the purveyors, people will realize that for a restaurant to be good, so many pieces have to come together.

And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!

Any job worth doing is worth doing well. But to be able to do that, you have to do it over and over again.

I wonder if I love the communal act of eating so much because throughout my childhood, with four older brothers and a mom who worked in the restaurant business, I spent a lot of time fending for myself, eating alone - and recognizing how eating together made all the difference.

Hopefully, imparting what's important to me, respect for the food and that information about the purveyors, people will realize that for a restaurant to be good, so many pieces have to come together.

Good food is a good trend.

A cookbook must have recipes, but it shouldn't be a blueprint. It should be more inspirational; it should be a guide.