I'm as surprised as anybody. I never would have thought I'd be here talking about having a cooking show on the Food Network. It wasn't on my list of things, but it's fun, and I'm having a good time.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I love a nice cooking show. It's as aesthetically pleasing as any other thing that tempts the senses, I suppose.
I watch the Food Network with my kids. We - yeah, I - I - I generally don't admit that, but I love cooking.
I think cookery shows have become so sophisticated, and everyone's so marvellous at it, but there are people like me who aren't into the cooking malarkey, who still don't know how to boil an egg for three minutes.
Regrettably, people today don't watch many programs that actually teach people how to cook, so I agreed to do a competitive show that I think will provide inspiration.
I'm obsessed with cooking shows, even though they make everything look so easy when it isn't.
'The Food Network' was just starting in New York, and I was getting lots of attention from Mesa Grill. They had no money, so if you couldn't get there by subway, you couldn't be on. It wasn't like TV was something I really wanted to do - but I knew it would be great publicity for my restaurants.
I'm a good cook, and I look at something like 'Iron Chef' and think, 'It's a good thing I already know how to cook' - because I would never think I could do it if I watched these shows.
Did I ever think about TV stardom? I don't watch a lot of TV. I wasn't even aware of the phenomenon of what was going on in food television, what you started with the Food Network.
I'm in a very unique position in that I got to participate in the Food Network by contest. That's long gone, being voted on, but I don't forget where it came from, and I don't forget the people who worked to put me here.
I always hated watching cooking shows where the chef would use ingredients that I couldn't get my hands on, cooking implements that I couldn't afford, recipes that I could never have access to.
No opposing quotes found.