A jazz musician can improvise based on his knowledge of music. He understands how things go together. For a chef, once you have that basis, that's when cuisine is truly exciting.

I wasnt using college as a stepping stone to law school or some other career. I just wanted a liberal-arts education.

My parents couldnt be looser. It was the ultimate laissez faire upbringing.

I love faltering. I love, in a sense, coming up short. Because you learn nothing from success. You learn so much from failing.

Always make stock in a large quantity and freeze it in plastic bags. That way, when you want to make a nice soup or boil veggies, you can simply pull the bag out of the freezer.

My fantasy is to have a restaurant where there are no written menus, but where you just ask people, What are you in the mood for? Fish? Meat? White wine?

Fernand Point's philosophy instilled what cuisine is all about: generosity and hugeness of heart.

Well, I kind of think that the opposite is true. The customer is rarely right. And that is why you must seize the control of the circumstance and dominate every last detail: to guarantee that they're going to have a far better time than they ever would have had if they tried to control it themselves.

I have always looked at it this way: If you strive like crazy for perfection - an all-out assault on total perfection - at the very least you will hit a high level of excellence, and then you might be able to sleep at night. To accomplish something truly significant, excellence has to become a life plan.

I’m all about making money. It’s the greatest thing, because it means you get money to spend.