Television in the '80s was very limited. There was no Food Network. When I opened Spago, I had the kitchen in the dining hall. It was probably the first restaurant to do so. The dining scene became more casual. All these cooking shows have transformed our profession one-hundred percent.

Prep things in advance so that you don't have to cook everything at the last moment.

There's a lot of processed food in America and I know that can make some tourists who're used to fresh food feel sick.

One of the things I've found now, not just for television, but in the restaurant, is that you have many anxious chefs, who know how to cook twenty recipes really well, but they don't have a good foundation for other things.

Now everybody thinks that once you do Top Chef, then 13 weeks later you're a chef. Nobody wants to learn to cook anymore.

One thing I always say is being a great chef today is not enough - you have to be a great businessman.

The only way to teach people how to truly do it and do it the right way, is to get those ingredients and kitchen tools in front of them and in their hands to use.