I'm a decent cook; I'm a decent chef. None of my friends would ever have hired me at any point in my career. Period.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I had turned down other head chef jobs. I didn't want to take over someone else's cuisine. I wanted to start from scratch.
I was hired as a sous-chef at a restaurant on the Upper East Side. The chef liked to drink - some mornings we would find him sleeping. Two weeks after its opening, I became the chef. I was 20 years old, and way over my head. I had to hire the cooks and do the menus.
I had no desire to be a chef, but I had a desire to be someone who was heard.
I think I could be a cook. Everybody always says I'm good, though I think it's quite gruelling as a profession.
It's very important to me that people who are actual chefs and other professionals in the culinary world, understand that I'm not, and have never held myself out as being, like a CIA trained chef.
First of all, I can't really claim to be a great chef.
I went to school for culinary arts. I love to cook. That's a talent not a lot of people know about.
I became friends with a lot of chefs. I was a judge on 'Top Chef' last year. It was a dream come true.
I was a very good cook, and I knew I could build a business.
If you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. And that's exactly what I did.