“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.”

“There's a bond among a kitchen staff, I think. You spend more time with your chef in the kitchen than you do with your own family.”

“I don't like work--no man does--but I like what is in the work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself not for others--what no other man can ever know. They can only see the me...”

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”

“Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”

“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 ...”

“You get a timeless cool card in New York.”

“People recognize certain things, like 'D' means 'this dialogue stinks.' We're dealing with shows that are written here, shot in New York and posted back here. Accurate communication is a necessity.”

“What's more important than who's going to be the first black manager is who's going to be the first black sports editor of the New York Times.”