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Restaurants serve huge portions on even huger platters, and people are tempted to eat too much.

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.

There are restaurants you can go in and pay $100 a person for a meal. I get as much satisfaction out of paying $25.

Portion control is a real problem. My husband and I always split one appetizer and one entree. I'm sure waiters hate us.

These days, meals are more open to personal preferences. People like to serve themselves.

Here's the thing, I've been cooking more and more and I'm pretty good; the problem is I can only go out to restaurants that cook better than I do, therefore, it's expensive.

In San Francisco, the majority of the restaurants are ingredient-driven. In New York, that is true as well, but there's also a greater focus on technique.

It's one thing to execute dishes on your own time for family and friends, but quite another to perform and be judged in a competition. And that's what cooking in a high profile restaurant is. It's a competition. You're up against every other three-star restaurant in your city, and if you want to stay in business, you'd better deliver.

I'm a big buffet dude, or I'm a big cheap-food-and-order-more-when-I-need-it dude.

I think people are more savvy about cooking, food and dining. I notice they are looking for more value for their money - not in larger portions but more in terms of healthier, fresh, farm-to-table dishes with a nice presentation.