I have a Madonna portrait done in the style of a Russian icon. My mother, the chef Lidia Bastianich, and I bought it together. It reminds me of her.

Pasta is the one food I can't live without. It's the food I eat to fuel my running.

Carbs - especially pasta - are the fuel my body needs to maintain an athletic lifestyle.

The pressure, the heat, the almost impossibly fast pace at which you need work - this is the reality of working in the culinary industry. This is what professional chefs do night after night.

I eat a lot of whole grains for breakfast, a lot of dried fruit. And my big thing is pasta. I do a lot of simple pasta, with great ingredients.

Working in a restaurant means being part of a family, albeit usually a slightly dysfunctional one. Nothing is accomplished independently.

The best pastas are cut with bronze dies that give them a rough texture and allow the sauce to cling.

At home, I make a large batch of tomato sauce and freeze it in meal-size portions in freezer bags.

Aside from hospitality and delicious food, our [restaurateurs'] job is to entertain people. Restaurants should make people feel special, excited and fulfilled.

Most people who open restaurants will fail, because they lack the fundamental understanding of restaurant math. Either they think they're superstar cooks or they think they're superstar hosts.

No matter what it is you are cooking, buy the best ingredients you can afford. I don't care if it's a simple salad or Beef Wellington. A quality product stands alone and won't need any dressing up.

Sometimes the only answer to death is lunch.

Facts in books statistics in encyclopedias the ability to use them in men's heads.

It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like.

Most of what we see are white people.

Old age ain't for sissies

We actually love ourselves more than we love joy.

You know what they say the modern version of Pascal's Wager is? Sucking up to as many Transhumanists as possible, just in case one of them turns into God.

Jump up, look around, find yourself some fun. No sense in sitting there hating everyone.

O, sorrow! Why dost borrow Heart's lightness from the merriment of May?

Being a famous writer is a little like being a tall dwarf. You're on the edge of normality.