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

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

I think every young cook wants to write a book.

I believe Fernand Point is one of the last true gourmands of the 20th century. His ruminations are extraordinary and thought-provoking. He has been an inspiration for legions of chefs.

Repetition is the mother of perfection. If there is true perfection, it's about doing something over and over again. I truly think that if somebody does a recipe they've never done before and gets it right, they're probably more lucky than they are talented.

With passion, if you see the first asparagus of the springtime and you become passionate about it, so much the better, but three weeks later, when you’ve seen that asparagus every day now, passions have subsided. What’s going to make you treat the asparagus the same? It’s the desire.

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