Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
You know, running a restaurant is something you have to be working at each and every day; it's not a foregone conclusion that you're a success.
There are very few chefs both in Britain and the States that really identify the secret of being consistent. And combine consistency with flavor.
I can't say, maybe it's something in the ingredients, but again, we have a couple of contestants from Long Island and a phenomenal array of chefs.
I've never been a hands-on dad. I'm not ashamed to admit it, but you can't run a restaurant and be home for tea at 4:30 and bath and change nappies.
We are about creating a new wave of talent. We are the Manchester United of kitchens now. Am I playing full-time in the kitchen? I am a player-coach.
Someone sent me a picture of my name that was tattooed on their a***! The first thing I said was, the least you could have done was spell it properly!
It's very hard when you eat out every day for a living, and a new restaurant comes along and you haven't got that same vigour that you had 10 years ago.
A lot of people think that I am only in town when I'm doing the publicity circuit, but I actually come [Bread Street] regularly. I just don't publicise it.
You see new shows coming out with the same format, slightly high end, a little bit more glossy. You think, "S - . It's just the same s - but different day."
Pressure's healthy. It becomes stressful when you can't handle that. I mean, if you don't want to become pressurized in this environment, then don't be a chef.
The thing is, I can teach. I can teach bloody well. So few chefs have that level of generosity. I demand a lot, a f***ing hell of a lot, but I give a lot back.
We launched it in the London branch - phenomenal sausages, incredible eggs, homemade baked beans, black pudding - and it's something I wanted to bring to Dubai.
I love eating out. I don't deny that. But I don't want 12 or 15 courses because the chef wants me to taste this or taste that. I just want to be able to decide.
I don't like looking back. I'm always constantly looking forward. I'm not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I'm too busy looking for the next cow.
I suppose more than anything, chefs have gotten better, which is great news, which makes my life a lot easier. I can be a lot more creative in terms of the menu.
I've been in New York for 15 months. Winning two stars in the Zagat number one best newcomer within ten months of opening in New York has taught me a big lesson.
Everything has to be done for a reason, and everything has to be done to make sense in terms of running a proper business today, and it's not just about the food.
If I can give you one strong piece of advice, when you go away for that romantic weekend, whatever you do, do not accept or take the upgrade to the honeymoon suite.
Very few restaurants do five services a day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, cocktail, theatre and dinner - and because of that we can offer something for everyone.
I actually quite like [social media]. It's spontaneous, you don't really have to commit to it and I enjoy the interaction. Also, I have never sworn on there, not once.
Having four kids of my own, fifth one on the way... I think with "Junior," what's happened over the last three years is this program's been implemented across schools.
Chefs don't do ponytails and we shouldn't do them because I guarantee that whenever there's a discovery of hair in the food, it's guaranteed it's from the chef's ponytail.
In order to create a little bit of confidence, start cooking with pasta. Pasta is phenomenal. Once you've cooked pasta properly for the first time it becomes second nature.
I think, to Chelsea's [Handler] point, I still need directing because sometimes I go a little bit off beat in a way that it's like, rein it in. I welcome that kind of support.
I quite like that jeopardy, those up-against-the-wall odds. I don't like it when it's over-comfortable, too easy, something that can be done in two or three weeks. I like a challenge.
It goes back to the early days in the kitchen where you would be tasting dishes all night long, so the last thing I want to do in the morning is eat. Chefs generally tend to be grazers.
I have to say, opening up in New York taught me a lot about that level of attention to detail. London's a tough market, Paris is a tough market, but New York, well, that's extraordinary.
However amazing a dish looks, it is always the taste that lingers in your memory. Family and friends will appreciate a meal that tastes superb-even if you've brought the pan to the table.
[Molecular gastronomy] was a great trend, because it experimented with food. The benchmark was [former elBulli head chef] Ferran Adrià, and now he is no longer there it is harder to gauge.
I still love football, though, and I think cooking is like football. It's not a job, it's a passion. When you become good at it, it's a dream job and financially you need never to worry. Ever.
[My kids] don't need to cook to keep me happy. It's my job as dad to create opportunities so that they can find their passion. Forget about money, find what you really want to do with your life.
No one saw the recession coming. The UK businesses were solid as a rock, but the issues we had were in Paris, New York and LA. For every pound we were making here we were losing two pounds abroad.
That's what we do on "MasterChef," on "Junior." No school teachers, no parents, let it go. You're going to go on a challenge. We're going to go to hell and back, and we're going to have some bumps.
I'm a big lover of fish. Cooking fish is so much more difficult than cooking protein meats, because there are no temperatures in the medium, rare, well done cooking a stunning sea bass or a scallop.
I suppose I might be a player-coach nowadays. I'm a great teacher, and I enjoy teaching. But I'm glad I got injured and ended up turning to cooking. It was an accident but the happiest one of my life.
It's fascinating watching the debates [of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump], with the search for the new president. It's like a car crash, unfolding in front of your eyes. The level of personal attacks!
I think reality TV now needs a big kick up the a - to get creative and be meaningful, I think. Otherwise, people are becoming famous for having no talent, based on pure exposure. That's the grating part.
If you want to think about cooking, and it's a high-five, laid back motion, then flip burgers and dress Caesar salad, don't try to pitch in the premier league of restaurant. Build up to it, by all means.
Growing up in Britain, we didn't have much, worked for everything. To leave food on the plate, Mom classed it as being rude and so we ate because we were hungry, not ate because we had a choice in the fridge.
If you become a chef because you're obsessed by becoming a celebrity, getting my ass kicked and working my nuts off the way I did in France and getting pushed around those kitchens wasn't about becoming famous.
First of all, for me the secret is in the ingredients. You don't need to start spending fortunes on organic foods and start becoming way over budget. The better the ingredient, the littler that needs doing to it.
How many chefs do we know that prefer cooking for chefs than they do customers, yet customers are returning repeatedly and it's the level of support that determines the level of success that restaurant will have.
My childhood favourite is mum's shepherd's pie, Yorkshire pudding and roasted potatoes. I remember coming home from school and going to the kitchen to help her. It's because of her that I discovered my love for cooking.
One thing I can't afford to get sucked up in is the trend formation of restaurants here. I've invested heavily. We have a ten-year lease. More importantly, the style, the feel and the décor of the dining room is vibrant.
I train my chefs with a blindfold. I'll get my sous chef and myself to cook a dish. The young chef would have to sit down and eat it with a blindfold. If they can't identify the flavor, they shouldn't be cooking the dish.
Find what's hot, find what's just opened and then look for the worst review of the week. There is so much to learn from watching a restaurant getting absolutely panned and having a bad experience. Go and see it for yourself.
That's the problem. Anyone can go and buy a restaurant. I want to be at that f - ing dinner party where they say, "Hey, Bill, your food's great. You should buy yourself a restaurant." That's not right. Taking it less personally.
The parents are the issue, because it's not the kids' fault. They're the ones on the playground getting the s - and the jokes and the bullying, because of their size and they're obese. It's not the kids, it's the f - ing parents.
What's frustrating more than anything is when chefs start to cut corners and believe that they are incognito in the way they send out appetizers, entrees, and they know it's not 100 percent, but they think the customers can't spot it.
Stop taking things personally. Throughout the time with "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hotel Hell," when they work, you don't get any praise. When they fail, you get blamed. You're f - ed either way, but it doesn't stop me doing them, I think.