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

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

But once in a while you might see me at In and Out Burger; they make the best fast food hamburgers around.

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

Vegetables to me are - I don't want to say the most exciting part of cooking, but certainly a very exciting part of cooking, because they continue to change. They come into season and they go through different phases.

Its not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it's about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then u'll be a great cook.

My childhood wasn't full of wonderful culinary memories.