Cream rises. Excellence does have its rewards.
Mother Nature is the true artist and our job as cooks is to allow her to shine.
Do I shout, belittle or swear? No. I have sufficient confidence within myself to control my environment just by my presence, just by working hard and leading from the front.
I didn't understand myself well enough be an ambassador to my world, to inspire people to want to cook, to inspire young people to want to come into my industry.
I wasn't manufactured. I was cut from the cloth of the very old world of gastronomy. There was no such thing as celebrity chefs, chefs were trained and I like to think that I still represent those old values from that world and the opportunities that I am offered I often say no to.
I'm not a worrier. I like sleeping.
You have to shout in the kitchen to deliver the orders, to drive the troops, to get the food out. When you have a table of eight courses and everyone's having something different, you have a 15-second window to get it all together so no one at the table waits.
It's weird to have leisure - to have time off. I'm not used to it.
Leaves are usually looked upon as the children of the tree. Yes, they are children of the tree, born from the tree, but they are also mothers of the tree. The leaves combine raw sap, water, and minerals, with sunshine and gas, and convert it into a variegated sap that can nourish the tree. In this way, the leaves become the mother of the tree. We are all children of society, but we are also mothers. We have to nourish society. If we are uprooted from society, we can not trasform it into a more liveable place for us and our children.
To achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East takes guts, not guns.
Men are born equal but they are also born different.