My mother's death was the defining moment of my life.

I'm the Christopher Biggins of reality TV.

I think it's really important for every young person to work in a kitchen because you learn a life skill.

Harveys opened against the backdrop of Thatcher's greed culture.

I can't work in a domestic kitchen; it's just too confined. There's no freedom, and there's no buzz.

I met my first wife at the fishmonger's in the summer of 1987, some six months after opening Harveys.

Oh, I love ladies in hats! One rule of restaurants: never take a hat from a lady; wait for her to offer you the hat because she might not want to take it off - she might not have had time to do her hair properly.

I think Singapore is one of the great cities of the world.

I wouldn't want to be in one room, 20 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, with four white walls and a stove. I think it stunts your growth as a human being.

I don't need Michelin, and they don't need me.

My children are, without question, the most wonderful thing. I've learnt more about myself through my children than any other experience in my life.

People still think I led a rock and roll lifestyle. I was in my kitchen 100 hours a week; I didn't have time to do that.

'Kitchen Wars' makes 'MasterChef' look like a walk in the park!

My cooking attracted celebrities. I met Sylvester Stallone. He squeezed my bicep and said: 'I don't usually eat your kind of food, but for you, I ate it.' I haven't got a clue what he'd eaten but he asked me to cook for his wedding feast when he married Jennifer Flavin at Blenheim Palace.

When you roast a chicken perfectly, there's nothing more delicious.

When I look at old pictures, I see my son Luciano, not me. Luciano looks identical. That's what's extraordinary, the power of a gene pool.

I leave my emotions at home.

Rudeness is not having fun, and if it is, it's at the expense of another person.

The newspapers had described me as the Jagger of the Aga. It wasn't hard living up to the reputation.

My tortured life - with its extremes and conflicts - might have been difficult for me to deal with, but the press couldn't get enough of it. I was in the papers every day, 'the enfant terrible of the culinary world.'

The only time I am seen in public is when I go to work. When I go home to England, I never leave my home.

The reason I do television is because we all have to work and earn a living, as I have four children. It's also a platform for me to share my knowledge and inspire the young.

I love gardens!

I think what you got to do is to create an environment which people wish to sit in. You have to create a menu which is interesting to people. You have to create food which is delicious and affordable. I think that's what's important.

Remember, restaurateurs are only shopkeepers; that's all we are. It's no different from the supermarket down the road.

I don't like London. I'm not happy here. I don't even own a flat here.

You'll never see me at award ceremonies.

The day I stopped fearing my father was the day I could enjoy him.

One day, a chef moaned that he was too hot, so I took a carving knife in one hand, held his jacket with the other, and slashed it. Then I slashed his trousers. Both garments were still on his body at the time.

Nine out of 10 English chefs have their names on their chests. Who do they think they are? They're dreamers. They're jokes.

I like a nice cross section of society in my restaurants - the stars, the toffs, the working guy.

My pet hate, with customers, is those that think it's all about wallets.

I was racially discriminated against for years as a child in Leeds because I was an Italian.

I was brought up to respect my father and not to love him.

Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was a lad. From then on, he lived in fear that death was just around the corner, and he set about programming me to work hard and bring in some cash.

I discovered that the world of the finest restaurants was something akin to the world of the Mafia.

You can't be a chef and appear on television all the time. It's impossible. At least when I earned my stars, I was always behind my stove.

I am not the sort of person who gives up.

I came from the most humble side of society, and I know what it's like to be poor, really poor, and I was brought up in the '60s and '70s very poor, and I'm very happy flying the flag for the working man.

A cookery book should be there for inspiration. Recipes should be a guideline, and they shouldn't be cast in stone.

I'm a great fan of farmed products, as long as it's done properly, because it allows people to be able to afford them. If it wasn't for farmed products, a lot of people wouldn't eat so well.

I love the countryside, which is where I live and feel most comfortable, and hate being surrounded by herds of people.

'Wall Street' was the big movie of 1987, the year in which Harveys opened. It was a film about greed and self-indulgence, about hunger for success, and Michael Douglas's line, 'breakfast is for wimps,' became a mantra for anyone who wanted to get to the top.

In 1990 at Harveys, when I was 28 years old, I became the youngest chef to win two Michelin stars. It was a huge achievement.

I take so much from my life. I have my shooting and my fishing. I have my working life. I have my relationship with my children.

I love working. I love doing things. I don't like sitting.

I like my mind being stimulated. I like discovering new concepts.

Life is an emotional rollercoaster. It really is.

I came from a hard, working-class world which, since my mother's death, had been dominated by men. I hadn't been encouraged to talk about the burden of grief, and because I was severely underdeveloped when it came to sharing my emotions, I mustn't have been the most communicative husband.

I was brought up on a council estate. I know what it's like to be poor.