Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore.

I like to drink young wines, wines which are robust and have a lot of forward fruit to them.

I think that you’ve got to make something that pleases you and hope that other people feel the same way.

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.

Anyone can make a good roast chicken.

The law of diminishing returns is something I really believe in.

A kaiseki meal is like that, very small courses over a long period of time.