For me no good food is illuminated without acidity.
I know that some people use lavender, incense, and cake as sedatives, but for me, a 'nose bath' in an old book just does something.
I'm interested in food and sharing my passion with a community of like-minded people. All of the celebrity stuff that comes along with that is just an incidental byproduct of being able to do what I love for a living.
I shop at the market, and that informs what I make.
One of the most practical utensils I can't live without is my 'Joyce Chen' Scissors. They cut with precision.
It's amazing the relationships you forge in a kitchen. When you cooperate in an environment that's hot. Where there's a lot of knives. You're trusting your well-being with someone you've never before met or known.
Dione Lucas has been obscured by larger-than-life personalities like Julia Child, but she had it going on. She is like the horse that came in second place, whose name we can't remember. It takes more than just one horse to make a race.
When we talk about chefs, we often talk about their love of food or their passion for it, but cooking is also about making a living; it's a job.
Mashed potatoes with stuff in it? That's '90s.
I think that 'celebrity' and 'chef' should be a permanent oxymoron.
Walnuts are so rich. I also love that you can chew them for five minutes. Then I eat a couple of golden raisins as a palate cleanser because they are really tart, and then more walnuts. It's a great snack for me.
I like to take a day off and enjoy fast food for what it is. I have to say that in New York, I'm really partial about taco trucks. I mean, I really can't handle it. There is something about catching all those ingredients piled on top of each other: it puts me in a tizzy. I love it. I'm kind of a taco truck junkie.
I like all of McClure's pickles, but my personal favorites are the spicy ones.
Freeze herbs by stem and all - don't just freeze the leaves. It's better to keep them sturdier. Put the stems and the leaves together into a plastic bag, and just wrap it up and freeze it like that.
I am driven by ingredients. My Italian heritage and French training inevitably poke through as well, guiding my techniques.
Red wine vinegar has some personality as well acidity.
A splash of red wine vinegar can pull things together like a pinch of salt.
Short ribs in the middle of a hamburger? That was pretty groundbreaking.
My last meal on Earth? The obvious answer is a plate of my mother's scrambled eggs.
Scrambled eggs are so simple, but they don't wait or taste better cold!