I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs.

Top Chef is a very smooth-running machine. All the people working there are incredibly professional and absolutely at the top of their game.

People in London think of London as the center of the world, whereas New Yorkers think the world ends three miles outside of Manhattan.

Everyone said to me growing up, "You're like an American. You have to go to America. That's your spiritual home."

There's no reason why you can't deliver a grammar-school curriculum to an all-ability intake.

America thinks of itself as a meritocracy, so people have more respect for success and more contempt for failure.

I was once hired to write a column for 'The Guardian' and then got fired before I'd submitted my first one. That was unusual. Most newspapers wait until I've written at least one piece for them before firing me.