A chef is a mixture maybe of artistry and craft. You have to learn the craft really to get there.

It was a revolution, but now it is an evolution. People know more ingredients, people know more techniques, and people look for more ingredients they've never looked for before. In the '80s, you couldn't find raw tuna in any restaurant that wasn't Japanese. Now, you can't find any restaurant without it or sashimi.

A lot of restaurants serve good food, but they don't have very good service.

I want to teach [people] the secret of great visual presentation. Your stomach sees the food first, and I want to help them match food flavor profiles with the aesthetics of everything.

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

Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors - it's how you combine them that sets you apart.

Thirty-five years ago, being a cook was the same as being a used-car salesman.