It wasn't the traditional cooking most people do. For me, as a young chef, Thanksgiving meant going to work in the kitchen at places like Gotham, JoJo and Jean-Georges.

I've always had fond memories of cooking Thanksgiving.

'Top Chef' is always entertaining - it's hard to stop watching, like a good hockey fight, but no one gets hurt. It's great that the format is so inherently dramatic and can make cooking so entertaining to people who might not ordinarily be interested in a cooking show. Good for the industry all round.

Being a chef isn't the ideal career to intersect with parenting, but I try to be in my kids' lives as much as possible.

People have been manipulating food ever since they realized cooking a whole animal was difficult. Cows don't come in hot dog form.

My job has changed over the years, 22 years roughly I've been cooking professionally. When I was younger, I aspired to be the star player. Now, it's more I like to sit in the dugout and make sure the team wins the game.