I grew up in the kitchen, mostly with my grandfather, my mother and my aunt Raffy.

Pasta doesn't make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat.

I spent time at my grandfather Dino's gourmet store where he brought in chefs from Naples to cook. I thought of them as rock stars.

The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can.

Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.

I'm into very colorful food. Obviously lots of flavor, but I think we eat with our eyes first, so it has to look great. The presentation has to be great.

When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.

My grandfather gave me inspiration to cook, and love food and flavors. My Aunt Raffie, gave me creativity and the inspiration to create new things. My mother inspires me to find simplicity in food.

Opportunities present themselves and you have to enjoy the ride. All of us get so worried about the next step that we don't enjoy the moment we're in right now.

You just need a little perspective. Warmed chocolate can give you that.

It's more intimate. Food can connect people in a forever sort of way.

I wanted her to notice me, to pay attention to me. It was an irrational desire, one I‘d never experienced before.

One can be a pessimist in thought but not in action.

Whatever my limited knowledge, I tried to make up for it with energy.

Welcome to Irkalla, the Land of the Dead, ” the woman said. “I am Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld.

Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his. I suppose such a thing can’t really happen outside sleep.

Free trade is very important if we respect equality among nations.

Our words can have power that we don't think we have in everyday life - anyone can make a difference.

The very desire for guarantees that our values are eternal and secure in some objective heaven is perhaps only a craving for the certainties of childhood or the absolute values of our primitive past.

Being able to "go beyond the information" given to "figure things out" is one of the few untarnishable joys of life.

There's one beneficial effect of going to Moscow. You come home waving the American flag with all your might.