Fear is a driving force for most of the things that I do. I don't know if that's healthy.

Contemporary ramen is totally different than what most Americans think ramen should be. Ramen is not one thing; there are many, many different types.

We're hoping to succeed; we're okay with failure. We just don't want to land in between.

Food, to me, is always about cooking and eating with those you love and care for.

Rage or fear... It oscillates. Rage I need to motivate me to try things that I can't ordinarily do - as I'm a lazy man. Fear - to keep pushing harder so we don't lose what we've accomplished.

Lifes too short to just breeze on by.

Cooking and gardening involve so many disciplines: math, chemistry, reading, history.

To eat well, I always disagree with critics who say that all restaurants should be fine dining. You can get a Michelin star if you serve the best hamburger in the world.

I find that there are a lot of similarities between French and Japanese food. I think they're two countries that have really systemized their cuisine and codified it.

I constantly think I'm a fraud, that this success is not warranted or justified.

The livelihood of the restaurant is dependent upon getting the word out. There's so much more competition. You can do an event every week and not cook at all.

The best books... are those that tell you what you know already.

When you're hearing somebody and you're not seeing them, your brain naturally creates a version of them. Then you feel closer to them because you've created them.

Void of freedom, what would virtue be?

For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart.

Effective people are not problem minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems. They think preventively.

Making movies is eating candy. It's a very expensive candy, so you value when you can do it. So when you can do it twice at once, it's like, you know, a kid in a candy store!

There is always room at the top - after the investigation.

For the next century, we've got to put together what we so carelessly tore apart with so little concern for those who were gonna follow us. ... You've got to sound off.

The greatest pleasure of reading consists in re-reading.

What a pretty thing man is when he goes in his doublet and hose and leaves off his wit!