Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

My mom is Portuguese, and my dad is French Canadian. The solid foundations of those heritages, cultures and techniques, melded with my education and classical background, lead to my style of cooking.

I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town.

My food is Louisiana, New Orleans-based, well-seasoned, rustic. I think it's pretty unique because of my background being influenced by my mom, Portuguese and French Canadian. There's a lot going on there.

My inspiration was my mom. She's a great cook, and she still cooks, and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community, food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.

I respected it. I submerged myself into it. So on a lot of days off I would go and fish with the fishermen and the families that ran the boats. I would go work the fields with farmers. I would go and talk with farmers about growing particular products for me.