This is what people don't understand: obesity is a symptom of poverty. It's not a lifestyle choice where people are just eating and not exercising. It's because kids - and this is the problem with school lunch right now - are getting sugar, fat, empty calories - lots of calories - but no nutrition.

I travel around and hear from so many kids. Their parents say they were always very picky but they watch the show and they want to try stuff. The show is entertainment, but I think it has done so much for the public perception of what food can be.

I'd like to see 'Top Chef: Amateur'. Sometimes we have an amateur chef on the show and they just can't cut it against the pros but there are some great stories there.

I know how to make sausage, and now that I've seen how laws are made, I'll stick with sausage.

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

Once you have your basics down, you can start breaking the rules.

A lot of professions happen to be male-dominated because women drop out at a certain point. It's unfortunate.