Michael Mina Quotes

I went in saying I wanted to be the food guy.

When we talk about chefs, we often talk about their love of food or their passion for it, but cooking is also about making a living; it's a job.

The best job a man could have would be a chef. They'd understand the long hours I work and the drive and ambition it takes to succeed.

I absolutely love the restaurant industry.

Chefs are fond of hyperbole, so they can certainly talk that way. But on the whole, I think they probably have a more open mind than most people.

I know my way around the kitchen. I like to cook, so I can fry an egg. I guess I could be a fry cook at Bob's Big Boy or something, or maybe a sous chef somewhere a little nicer. I would like to do that. I think I can probably pick that up pretty quickly.

I think every chef, not just in America, but across the world, has a double-edged sword - two jackets, one that's driven, a self-confessed perfectionist, thoroughbred, hate incompetence and switch off the stove, take off the jacket and become a family man.

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

Chefs don't become chefs just to earn stars - that's not the goal.

I love hospitality, and I love cooking. The kitchen is where I feel most at ease and where I feel most like myself.

Growing up, my dad owned a restaurant in Washington, DC, and food was something I was passionate about. But when I finally got into it, I felt like it was so late in the game; that's why I worked seven days a week at Craft and Mercer Kitchen. I wanted to see how far I could take it.

I am a chef through and through. Everything I do - whether it is cooking for kids in Harlem or cooking in a fine dining establishment - all my days are consumed by food.

Be curious, learn and read as much as you can about food. Don't worry about making money. Focus on learning at various venues before you settle down for a steady position.

I started cooking when I was 18 years old, and now I have restaurants all over the world.

Being a chef would be too much hard work.

Although the skills aren't hard to learn, finding the happiness and finding the satisfaction and finding fulfillment in continuously serving somebody else something good to eat, is what makes a really good restaurant.

Even if the chef has a good business head, his focus should be behind kitchen doors. A business partner should take care of everything in front of the kitchen doors.

I hope the cooks who are working for me now are getting that kind of experience so they can use what they're learning now as a foundation for a great career.

My first job was working at Benihana as kitchen help. In college, I was a telemarketer for a company at the same time I was a bike messenger for this greasy fast-food place.

I always knew I wanted to be a chef.

A great chef is an artist that I truly respect.

All my jobs have been with food in one way or another since 1948. My parents were in the hotel business, and I just loved the warm hearted people who worked so hard with such good humor.

I was a dishwasher at one of those Japanese places that cook on your table. Not too fun.

Who needs one more chef in one more building with four walls and a kitchen?

One thing I always say is being a great chef today is not enough - you have to be a great businessman.