I think if you can take one or two things from a cookbook, it's successful.

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 didnt want to be encumbered by what anyone elses abilities were, their equipment or environment or their ability to get certain products.

They know what my standards are. They know what I need and how to get it to me, and they know how to communicate with me if for some reason they can't get it.

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

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

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.