David Chang

Fear is a driving force for most of the things that I do. I don't know if that's healthy. ”

I don't like eating in restaurants. ”

There's the common misconception that restaurants make a lot of money. It's not true. If you look at maybe the top chef in the world, or at least monetarily, it's like Wolfgang Puck, but he makes as much money as an average crappy investment banker. ”

When you meet the farmers and go to the farms, you see that they treat their animals like they're family. It makes a big difference. ”

As a child, I didn't see my dad that much because he was always working at the restaurant. He became pretty jaded after working at the restaurant for so long. ”

Open your refrigerator, your freezer, your kitchen cupboards, and look at the labels on your food. You'll find 'natural flavor' or 'artificial flavor' in just about every list of ingredients. The similarities between these two broad categories are far more significant than the differences. ”

Yes, natural is good and healthy, and whole foods are important. However, experimentation is important, too. ”

Fine dining teaches you how to cook many different things, and it gives you the basic fundamentals, but these specialty restaurants, they're not teaching you the broad foundation you need to become a well-rounded cook. ”

I lived across the street from Noodle Bar. I could barely stand it, because you're there all the time; you can't get away. ”

I was terrible at desk jobs. ”