I had to restrain myself from buying a book on 19th-century fruit knives.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I have a knife collection.
I have always liked knives. Then somebody gave me one. Then somebody gave me another one. Then I liked having them and started buying them. I started finding ones I liked, ones with funky blades.
Some books I've kept because the binding is beautiful - I'm unlikely ever to read my grandmother's copy of 'The Life of Lord Nelson.' I'm addicted to secondhand bookshops.
My parents would read those books to me as well but they used to make me starving when I was a kid because they were always eating ham sandwiches with the crusts off and drinking ginger beer.
I always thought the name of my first book would be 'The Insecure Chef,' because when I started cooking, I was so nervous.
I was 8 years old when I went across the street from my house to a fair, and they always had a used book sale. For a quarter I bought a book called 'Come On Seabiscuit.' I loved that book. It stayed with me all those years.
Particularly when you're making a movie of a book, people are always waiting with their knives - you know?
My books are, in a way, a record of my life - that part of it that came to flower and fruit in my mind.
My favorite knife is from Miyakoya in Japan - I have one in each of my restaurants.
I was just lucky I lived in this time of mass-market paperbacks.