John Lanchester Quotes

People are trying to figure out what American food is; it's certainly an amalgamation.

Here's the irony in what I do: When I go out to eat, I like classic French food. I like amazing Japanese food that has such a history that it goes back hundreds of years. And I also like really innovative food as well.

At wd~50, we have carried on, I think, a very honest, legitimate European tradition of messing with foie gras.

In the 1970s, British food was beginning to get good, whereas in France it was just starting its long, sad decline. My most memorable meals, however, have been in Italy.

In San Francisco, the majority of the restaurants are ingredient-driven. In New York, that is true as well, but there's also a greater focus on technique.

I realized very early the power of food to evoke memory, to bring people together, to transport you to other places, and I wanted to be a part of that.

While we Brits love a curry, the French get their spicy kicks from the culinary traditions bestowed by their North African population.

Those Frenchies may know their pastry, but you can't beat a bit of British cheese.

At home I serve the kind of food I know the story behind.

When France was the only reference for chefs to learn, you could go everywhere in the world, and they would copy dishes directly because they didn't have much expanded imagination or technique or knowledge.

We began building this incredible new foundation in this restaurant, and that's what began giving me the left-hand side of tradition and the right-hand side, my new palate.

In Paris we have bistros, then we have fine dining. In London, you have a very contemporary scene with mixed influences.

Many of the things the slow food people honor were innovations within historical times. Somebody had to be the first European to eat a tomato.

I don't come from any great culinary tradition - I'm from London!

More than any other in Western Europe, Britain remains a country where a traveler has to think twice before indulging in the ordinary food of ordinary people.

It is an honor to open in New York City and to have the opportunity to serve and share our family's version of American Chinese food and hospitality. New York City deeply influenced my passion for food and service, and it feels good to be back.

I actually don't think there is any difference between French and American cuisine. French cuisine was always about discipline, about ingredient, about creativity, but also about simple. I see America as very similar in these rights.

American cooking is one of the unknown cuisines in America.

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 love inventive food, but I want the classic dishes to taste like how I remember them. I get a little bummed out when there is too much fancy stuff going on and it doesn't resemble the original dish at all.

I take a cooking class everywhere I travel. I find it's the best way to get to know a culture.

I cook British food, but it doesn't mean I'm jingoistic about it. People can cook very good fusion food.

My wife Neelam is a North Indian, so she will make North Indian food, while my mother will make Bengali food.

I used to watch my grandmother make fancy, Julia Child-style beef bourguignon. And growing up in New York City, I was exposed to many cultures. I experimented with Puerto Rican and Jamaican food.

A cookbook is a moment in time because, otherwise, you look back at the end of the day, and all the meals have been eaten, and the experience is gone.