A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.

Anyone can make a good roast chicken.

For me, thats one of the important things about cooking. What was good enough yesterday may not be good enough today.

I can make dough in a machine faster than I can make it by hand, but I want to make it by hand, because I want to remember the way it feels. It's so important for me to make it by hand - whether it's a pasta dough or a pâte brisée. You become involved in it. You become personal with it. For me it's such a wonderful way to get satisfaction and gratification when I'm cooking.

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

We rely on our purveyors to tell us what's available and what's good.

Let's face it: if you and I have the same capabilities, the same energy, the same staff, if the only thing that's different between you and me is the products we can get, and I can get a better product than you, I'm going to be a better chef.