Quote

The stories of wine lords who trade wine on intimidation or food critics who trade free meals for reviews those are the stories of my life. I am telling the stories of my life in a true way.

Joe Bastianich

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Joe Bastianich
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: September 17
Entrepreneur
Restaurateur
Television Personality
Television Presenter
Television Producer
Winemaker
New York City
New York
Joseph Bastianich
Free
Reviews
True
Meals
Stories
Critics
Way
Wine
Life
Telling
Trade
Food
Lords
Lord
Intimidation

More quotes by Joe Bastianich

Image
Aside from hospitality and delicious food, our [restaurateurs'] job is to entertain people. Restaurants should make people feel special, excited and fulfilled.
Joe Bastianich
Image
Essentially, wines are fermented grape juice, so I'm trying to make the point that the wine world is about scores and marketing and kind of creating a scarce resource where they don't really exist.
Joe Bastianich
Image
I think that, by comparison with $2,000 bottles of grand cru Burgundies, first-rate barolos, which sell for under $100, are undervalued ten-fold.
Joe Bastianich
Image
I have a Madonna portrait done in the style of a Russian icon. My mother, the chef Lidia Bastianich, and I bought it together. It reminds me of her.
Joe Bastianich
Image
At home, I make a large batch of tomato sauce and freeze it in meal-size portions in freezer bags.
Joe Bastianich
Image
Wine pricing is an art - like painting.
Joe Bastianich
Image
The best pastas are cut with bronze dies that give them a rough texture and allow the sauce to cling.
Joe Bastianich
Image
I'm a baritone. Baritones don't mature until late.
Joe Bastianich
Image
Being frugal, conscious of making money, is not a negative thing. That sensibility of creating value and finding value and reinvesting in those customers is what separates great restaurants from the average ones.
Joe Bastianich
Image
America has been conditioned to think of pasta as the never-ending pasta bowl and Olive Garden.
Joe Bastianich
Image
He brought a sensibility and a hard-edged reasonableness to operating restaurants that had a lasting impact on me and still affects how I run all our restaurants today. The passing of 'Restaurant Man' - the original gangsta 'Restaurant Man,' my father - was the passing of an era. No one can replace him.
Joe Bastianich
Image
I was brought up to believe I could achieve anything. My mother instilled in me the belief that there was always something great coming. For example, even though I'm afraid of flying, I always think the plane can't crash because there are so many better things still to come.
Joe Bastianich
Image
Maitre d's are at the financial spigot of the restaurant, meaning they control who gets in and who doesn't, but aside from that, they don't do anything. And yet they get paid as much as the highest-paid people in the place.
Joe Bastianich
Image
Beans are a real go-to for me.
Joe Bastianich
Image
The general manager is kind of like the step into darkness when you reach the top of the league. As GM, you're responsible for everything, including the maitre d's and the sommeliers - all these people who have their own agendas. But you probably make less than the maitre d' and have a lot more work and a lot more headaches.
Joe Bastianich
Image
No matter what it is you are cooking, buy the best ingredients you can afford. I don't care if it's a simple salad or Beef Wellington. A quality product stands alone and won't need any dressing up.
Joe Bastianich
Image
I come from a family that loves to eat, not exercise. Being fat made even walking hard.
Joe Bastianich
Image
If you eliminate the junk food, you don't really run the risk of gaining weight if you've got a good workout routine.
Joe Bastianich
Image
The menu should be part of the entertainment, part of the dining experience. It's kind of like reading the 'Playbill' when you go to the theater. It should be an alluring and interactive document. Does it have burn marks on it from the candle? If you ever get a greasy menu with food stains on it, it's time to run like hell.
Joe Bastianich
Image
With four-appetizer, four-entree menus, it's like, give me a break. That's not a restaurant, that's a dinner party.
Joe Bastianich