When I was growing up, Chef Charlie Trotter inspired me a lot.

My learning from my travels is that taste is objective. If a thing is tasty, it's universally tasty. Or, just not.

I found most of my learning has taken place after culinary college, when I travelled and met chefs and non-chefs.

The thing about innovation is, where do you stop? There are movements across the world where people are asking restaurateurs to bring back the regular plate. So, yes, we are fed up of drinking out of shoes and eating out of hats.

I've only read three books by Stephen King. When I was 10 I read 'The Long Walk,' one of his pseudonymous Bachman books. In my early 20s, while trapped on a family vacation, I read 'The Dark Half,' which taught me a word I have never forgotten: psychopomp. Now I have read '11/22/63.'

My mother was a great inspiration to me to always do my best. My father has always been my mentor and friend. They taught me the basic principle that guides most all that I do: faith, focus, finish.

If you're in a family unit... and the boys are having a particularly hard time, the impact on the entire family is troublesome.

I owe my career to Latina women. I was surrounded by the amazing group: my mother, my aunts, my extended family. They didn't necessarily have access to high fashion, but they had great style and looked stunning naturally at every age.