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I learned more from the one restaurant that didn't work than from all the ones that were successes.

My contribution I hope is to get people to eat full-flavored food. If I could come away with that alone, that would be a fantastic accomplishment. I'm also very proud of being a very American chef.

I actually wanted to first direct and produce, but then I got this very cool opportunity to be in front of the camera once.

Something I should have achieved quite easily took me a long time to get around to.

So I quit my job and went to the New England Culinary Institute for the full two years and worked in the restaurant industry after that until finally I thought I had a grasp on what I needed to do what I do.

All I ever wanted to do was to make food accessible to everyone; to show that you can make mistakes - I do all the time - but it doesn't matter.

Everyone would talk about their diets and working out and what it made me do was go to craft services where all the food for the cast and crew was and I would eat.

I ended up wanting to be a cook and hold my own in a restaurant.

I realized very early the power of food to evoke memory, to bring people together, to transport you to other places, and I wanted to be a part of that.

I used to work for a catering company - I waitressed for Harry Winston events. I remember being so hungry, I would eat when I was supposed to be catering to other people.