“The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody's ego, that's it, game over.”

“I've had a lot of success; I've had failures, so I learn from the failure.”

“If you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. And that's exactly what I did.”

“I'd like to think I'm a great teacher.”

“My father was a swim teacher. We used to swim before school, swim after school.”

“I think every chef, not just in America, but across the world, has a double-edged sword - two jackets, one that's driven, a self-confessed perfectionist, thoroughbred, hate incompetence and switch ...”

“Lost Time is never found again.”

“How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.”

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.”

“I lurched away from the table after a few hours feeling like Elvis in Vegas - fat, drugged, and completely out of it.”

“I started in our neighborhood, buying a pastrami burrito at Oki Dog and a deluxe gardenburger at Astro Burger and matzoh-ball soup at Greenblatt's and some greasy egg rolls at the Formosa. In part ...”

“A sampler of England's hottest 'chefs' would include a mostly hairless young blond lad named Jamie Oliver, who is referred to as the Naked Chef. As best as I can comprehend, he's a really rich guy ...”

“We need more men to sit at the table... at the kitchen table.”

“The house is in turmoil with records on every space. In the kitchen and in the dining room is covered with records. I don't have a big enough house to accommodate everything.”

“My most famous show is the 'Kitchen Show.' More famous than any gallery show or museum show I curated.”