The hardest thing for me is restraint.

Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.

The best way to learn to cook is to do some serious eating.

Food is ever-changing and ever moving forward and getting more and more complex.

Creative risks will always outweigh technical mistakes.

Give yourself enough time to really learn how to cook.

The better the ingredients, the more farmers I can buy from, the closer I feel to the food I want to make that represents what I care about as a chef.

I woke up on May 15, 1991, the day of my Barnard graduation, and I said to myself, 'By the end of today you will decide what you want to do with the rest of your life.'

For me no good food is illuminated without acidity.

I don't show just anyone how to crust a sea bass. That's sacred information.

I bent my head over a stove in my early 20s and picked it up in my 30s.

Like a flower, the magical softness of your voice touched my heart.

Evaluate yourself and your calling worthily enough and be proud of it

Luck came to those who left a space for it.

I don't follow trends. I make each cake for a particular wedding, or event.

Sometimes I worry more about losing weight than gaining weight, because this is how people know and accept me.

Our Lord has created persons for all states in life, and in all of them we see people who who achieved sanctity by fulfilling their obligations well.

I do like Italian graves; they look so much more lived in.

But actually, my drug addiction thing, I was so stubborn.

When I watch a singer perform, or an athlete, I can't help but be driven to be the best I can be at my craft.

A commentary on the times is that the word 'honesty' is now preceded by 'old-fashioned.'