See, I'm a believer that people are born with a sense of cooking. It's something within them that really gives them the ability to create and to understand flavors.

You know what, I don't really watch a lot of cooking shows, but what's great about them is that it inspires a lot of the younger generation so, you know, with cooking shows and reality shows and the social media, I think it really makes our industry a hotter industry.

When you see people suffering and dying and hungry, this job gives you the ability to do something about it.

You don't go to school to become the best chef in the world right after you graduate. School is always a starting point so what people forget is that you go to school to build a foundation, and you want to build a foundation that's not going to crumble.

You have to see and smell and feel the circumstances of people to really understand them.

As a professional, I think we're not being judged solely on technical ability anymore. People really want to be entertained and enjoy what they're watching.