I look forward to the spring vegetables because the season is so short. Mushrooms, edible foraged herbs, wild leeks, early season asparagus.

Contemporary ramen is totally different than what most Americans think ramen should be. Ramen is not one thing; there are many, many different types.

We're hoping to succeed; we're okay with failure. We just don't want to land in between.

Food, to me, is always about cooking and eating with those you love and care for.

Rage or fear... It oscillates. Rage I need to motivate me to try things that I can't ordinarily do - as I'm a lazy man. Fear - to keep pushing harder so we don't lose what we've accomplished.

Lifes too short to just breeze on by.

Cooking and gardening involve so many disciplines: math, chemistry, reading, history.

To eat well, I always disagree with critics who say that all restaurants should be fine dining. You can get a Michelin star if you serve the best hamburger in the world.

I find that there are a lot of similarities between French and Japanese food. I think they're two countries that have really systemized their cuisine and codified it.

I constantly think I'm a fraud, that this success is not warranted or justified.

The livelihood of the restaurant is dependent upon getting the word out. There's so much more competition. You can do an event every week and not cook at all.

Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself.

I had fought on behalf of man against the sea, but I realised that it had become more urgent to fight on behalf of the sea against men.

I think I'm going to have to live vicariously through my daughter's rebellion because I certainly never did go through adolescence.

I can't think of a more potent combination than God and a good lawyer.

IGNORAMUS, n. A person unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to yourself, and having certain other kinds that you know nothing about.

Five is for five heartbeats, the length of time it takes to breathe in or out. For that is how quickly a life may change, for better or for ill. The time it takes to make up, or change, your mind.

I don’t predict a nonexisting future.

You cannot barter security for freedom, or freedom for security.

Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

Learn to use your emotions to think, not think with your emotions