The food business is very tough, but there's also a lot of love and very giving.

I've been lucky to travel and work all over the world through the lens of the back of the house, and I love that monocle. I love that lens, because it's real people.

There are so many times there could have been a left turn instead of a right turn in all people's lives. I think mine are pretty crystal clear, because of being adopted, being born in Ethiopia, being adopted to Sweden.

Cooking turkey every year doesn't have to be monotonous - I want people to always mix it up using different spices and preparations.

Being an Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef, there's nothing traditional about my Thanksgiving spread.

I can take a lot of pride that I can launch cookbooks and there's an audience out there that supports that.

I want people to understand my journey and to be inspired by that. You can be an immigrant, and if you work really hard, you can have your own restaurant.

I love having a croissant and a great cup of coffee. Just one cup.

I feel like there's a lot of tasks in cooking that I want to master, that I want to do better.

I started cooking for the love of cooking, and I am going to keep cooking whether there's a celebrity aspect to it or not.

I have never seen a picture of my mother. My mother's family never owned a photograph of her, which tells you everything you need to know about where I'm from and what the world was like for the people who gave me life.

Healthy can be the new good. Eating delicious should not be sacrificed because it's healthy.

If it's done really well, you don't want big portions because you think, 'That was so fulfilling. I'm not stuffed. I feel great.'

There shouldn't be an announcement that divides our food between what tastes good and what is good for us.

I'm an American chef. I'm American. I live here. I love being here. But, of course, it is different. A black man's journey is different.

I stand behind everything I've done.

Criticism is part of the creative man's journey, and I appreciate it.

To become a good cook is to know yourself, and I, at this point, know myself. I know myself, and I know the cook I want to be and the cook I am striving to be.

Food has always been in my life. Being born in Ethiopia, where there was a lack of food, and then really cooking with my grandmother Helga in Sweden. And my grandmother Helga was a cook's cook.

Most of my education has been around food.

I had great schooling, and my parents were always in front of me, or next to me, or behind me, making sure I had whatever I needed.

As an adopted person, once you find out about that 'other' side of yourself, it's almost like you find out who you really are.

I don't have memories of Ethiopia as a child. I didn't learn about Ethiopian culture until after I moved to New York and started meeting people from the Ethiopian community.

We know so much about the European food story, and we're getting to know about the American food story; but we know so little about the African food story.

I would love to take a cooking class from Gandhi. Maybe I could teach him how to cook, and he could teach me his message. I wouldn't mind learning how to make couscous from scratch from a North African woman, either.

Salad can get a bad rap. People think of bland and watery iceberg lettuce, but in fact, salads are an art form, from the simplest rendition to a colorful kitchen-sink approach.

I don't distinguish the music I listen to from great music - it's just music. There shouldn't be an announcement that divides our food between what tastes good and what is good for us.

In the harrowing aftermath of Haiti's earthquake, one of the greatest needs became desperately clear: safe water.

They say never trust a skinny chef, but the fact is, to stay healthy when you're a chef means you have to work twice as hard.

The reasons for food insecurity are many and varied. But part of the problem is the global farming systems.

When I get the chance to make my favorite breakfast on the weekend, I often choose to make pancakes.

Weekends are sacred for me. They're the perfect time to relax and spend time with family and friends.

Not only are pasta dishes delicious, but they are also great, easy options for a quick dinner during a busy weekday.

Pasta isn't just for Italian food anymore. Now there are tasty pasta recipes found in Asian cuisine, and it's emerging as a newfound love for vegans.

Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect.

Burdens are for shoulders strong enough to carry them.

With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.

After all, tomorrow is another day!

Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.

My dear, I don't give a damn.

I'll think of it tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.

Sir,"she said,"you are no gentleman!" An apt observation,"he answered airily."And, you, Miss, are no lady.

Hardships make or break people.

Perhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears.

It was better to know the worst than to wonder.

Dear Scarlett! You aren't helpless. Anyone as selfish and determined as you are is never helpless. God help the Yankees if they should get you." -Rhett Butler

Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.

Death, taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them.

I'd cut up my heart for you to wear if you wanted it.