It's my belief that cooking is a craft. I think that you can push it into the realm of art, but it starts with craft. It starts with an understanding of materials. It starts with an understanding of where foods are grown.

Every chef should have an understanding of pastries or desserts.

Recipes tell you nothing. Learning techniques is the key.

I remember at The Quilted Giraffe, when I was when working there to try out for the sous-chef position. I really wanted it, and the woman working the line next to me kept messing up and making me look bad. The last day of my kitchen trail, I just said to her very quietly, 'Do me a favor and get out of my way, because I want this job.'

We have so many young men, especially, who are growing up without their dads. We have to fill that void. We have to do a better job helping young people see what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman. And then, somehow, we have to put that family structure back together.

We're seeing this disintegration of the family movie into these blockbuster things that kids should not be exposed to with explosions, carnage and violence.

I will fight to the last breath, even though my family cowers in terror in the palace.

The Internet has become a tool to pick on people and ruin someone's life. I don't think parents realize what's going on. Just because you're not at school doesn't mean kids aren't harassing you on the computer.