When I was a teenager, I worked in New Orleans for a chef named Paul Prudhomme. That was a very important time in my life as a chef. I developed my palate and learned a lot. And here I am now. I specialize in modern Mexican and contemporary Latin cuisines.
Aaron Sanchez
Marcus Samuelsson is a chef who inspires me everyday. He has such a deep understanding of flavors and techniques. His food is representative of the diverse world that we live in. What he has done in Harlem with Red Rooster is very special. Marcus is not just a chef, he's a food activist.
No one raps about food like I do. I rap about fine dishes - like, all kinds of things that only real chefs and real foodies are going to know about.
Action Bronson
I worked on the line, I've been an executive chef, I've worked for the Mets, I've worked for various steakhouses, vegetarian restaurants, a lot of Middle Eastern stuff. I've worked my fair share of a lot of different things. I've worked at festivals and street fairs, you know? I've been through it all.
I always hated watching cooking shows where the chef would use ingredients that I couldn't get my hands on, cooking implements that I couldn't afford, recipes that I could never have access to.
Adam Richman
Back in the day, I used to watch 'The Cajun Chef' with Justin Wilson. His mixing would go one way, and his stomach would go the other.
I am not a cook at all. It wasn't difficult to play a chef because it was not about knowing recipes. I just had to look comfortable in the kitchen.
Aditya Roy Kapur
When I worked as a chef I had a happy brigade. I didn't run it with a rod of iron because I didn't need to me. I honestly believe that relaxed happy staff will be reflected in the food.
Ainsley Harriott
If I hadn't become a chef I would have loved to be a top tennis player, although I was never good enough so it wasn't really an option. But that has never dimmed my love of the game, which started in childhood when I was lucky enough to be a ball boy at Wimbledon.
To be honest, 'Ready Steady Cook' was a great opportunity, but I did compromise myself. I was stood there quizzing chefs on what they were doing when I knew exactly what they were doing and why.
My Mum was the main reason why I became a chef. She influenced all of my family to feel free in the kitchen - it was the centre of our home and I have wonderful memories of helping Mum cook and experiencing the love and patience that went into the food.
There have been times when, as a chef, I've bawled at staff because something's not quite right. But later I'd reflect and feel guilty.
I studied music at school and played the recorder. Later in life music was a great way of supplementing my income because I was paid really badly as a young chef. Luckily an old friend - we did music at school together - and I formed a duo, The Calypso Beat, which later became the Calypso Twins.
My mum wanted me to be a doctor because she worked in nursing. So she was quite disappointed when I came back from a holiday in France, and said I wanted to be a chef.
Performing has always been instinctive to me. I remember people saying, 'he doesn't know if he's a chef or an entertainer.' But what's wrong with being both? It's like saying you can't run the 100 and the 200 metres.
I'm a normal guy. I'm not a chef.
Al Roker
The restaurants express the spirit of the chef, the spirit of the city, the country.
Alain Ducasse
TV is a deformed vision, an excessive caricature. A chef has to stay an artisan, not become a star.
The real evolution is to learn something new every day - it's very important for chefs to share what they have discovered.
I'm surprised by the talent I find all over. There are always new chefs who propose many interesting new ideas, new ways of looking at ingredients.
There are so many impassioned winemakers. I think there are more impassioned winemakers than chefs.
Chefs don't become chefs just to earn stars - that's not the goal.
When I was younger, I behaved a bit strangely sometimes - lost my temper, did silly things - but little by little, I've gotten better. As a chef, I think you need to do a lot of work on yourself and your temperament.
I only get fat when I eat food cooked by other chefs. At home, my wife does all the cooking. She makes simple things like soups and salads. We both like steamed tofu.
I am a very eco-friendly chef but a guilty air traveller.
I don't think the rating system places too much pressure on chefs. I prefer to put the pressure on my chefs to perform to the top standards.
The better the ingredients, the more farmers I can buy from, the closer I feel to the food I want to make that represents what I care about as a chef.
I feel like a princess with a knife. I've wanted to be an Iron Chef forever.
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.
I didn't harbor a huge desire to become a chef until I graduated from college.
I wouldn't call being a chef gratifying in a lot of ways. It's an act of love.
My reasons for becoming a chef are somewhat of a cliche. I always loved to eat but it was watching my parents cook that really served as the impetus for my career choice.
The hardest thing about being a full time chef is leaving my work behind when I go home at night. I'll toss and turn about a menu item or forget to order produce and wake up at 4 A.M. in a cold sweat over some artichokes.
I think that 'celebrity' and 'chef' should be a permanent oxymoron.
I watched 'Iron Chef ' for years, and I thought, 'That's playing for the New York Yankees.' I made that my version of being Derek Jeter, and I worked really, really hard to win that.
As a chef, a mom, and a member of Team No Kid Hungry, I believe that every child deserves three meals a day, every day.
I feel very passionate about maintaining the same level of standard and respect for the food as an Iron Chef myself.
'Iron Chef America' is so real. Imagine putting on television the whole process of making that food, the technique. It's all about technique. It doesn't even matter if you show the faces sometimes.
I didn't want to write a cheffy cookbook with dehydrated ham chips.
There's a freshness to the approach of teen chefs. They're lighthearted, and they're not afraid to take risks.
I learned so much from 'Iron Chef' about ingredients, about the courage to put yourself out there.
I was dishwasher, then promoted to chef in a local kitchen in a restaurant in Seattle, and I was working on a building site as well, putting in insulation and painting houses, and then doing some classes at a community college nearby.
Whatever you do, do with determination. You have one life to live; do your work with passion and give your best. Whether you want to be a chef, doctor, actor, or a mother, be passionate to get the best result.
My boyfriend's a real chef, so I steer clear of him when I'm in the kitchen - I wouldn't like him to catch me chopping an onion.
Whenever I want to know how to cook something, I can't ask one chef - I have to ask six.
I get along great with my family. My parents are really proud of me and my brother, who's a chef here in New York. I don't see my parents often, but they're very supportive, especially as I get older.
The worst food you'll ever eat will probably be prepared by a 'cook' who calls himself a 'chef.' Mark my words.
Very good cooks who are employed as 'chefs' rarely refer to themselves as 'chefs.' They refer to themselves as 'cooks.'
You don't call yourself the Demon Chef by being gentle. I am tough.
While you can have the cult of the celebrity chef, the food still must taste good.
