You have to know the classics if you want to cook modern food.

I hate okra and grated mountain yam for the same reason. They're both slimy.

One of the first jobs I ever had was opening clams in a seafood restaurant, so I'm pretty quick at it.

In an ideal world for me, school lunch would be free for everybody.

Hunger is a political issue, and there are several things politically that are keeping people hungry - not funding food stamps adequately, not funding school lunches adequately. So there is a political solution to the problem of hunger.

Too often, chefs just want to experiment - they want to use liquid nitrogen before they know how to use heat.

I can't deal with a lot of spice but I have to eat it. I pay the price - I'm on medication for heartburn, so that's how I deal with it.