Marcus Samuelsson Quotes

I call all chefs 'cooks.' They're all cooks. That's what we do, we cook. You're a chef when you're running a kitchen.

I studied to be a chef as a side thing, a little hobby that I enjoyed doing, but I ended up falling madly in love with the food and the lifestyle.

I always knew I wanted to be a chef.

I never even dreamed of being a chef, and that's fundamental.

I started cooking in kitchens right out of high school, and I was lucky to work with a lot of great people, but I had no idea it would turn into this. Of course no one should go into this business because they want to be the next Emeril.

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.

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

I always had a fantasy of being a chef, because I like kitchen life.

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

I think that my love of cooking grew out of my love of reading about cooking. When I was a kid, we had a bookcase in the kitchen filled with cookbooks. I would eat all my meals reading about meals I could have been having.

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 reasons for becoming a chef are somewhat of a cliche. I always loved to eat but it was watching my parents cook that really served as the impetus for my career choice.

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.

If acting doesn't work out, I'm probably going to be a professional chef.

I don't have the talent, the temperament, or the patience to be a great chef. I'd much rather order from someone who can really do it. I love restaurants. They make my life better.

If you're a happy person around food, you can be a professional chef. It's fueled by passion.

I am someone who food has been a constant in my life, and it's been a passion - it's something that I've constantly studied - and I'm constantly trying to better my craft, and that's good enough for me.

I used to be a chef.

Cooks are an undervalued, awesome profession.

A chef is a mixture maybe of artistry and craft. You have to learn the craft really to get there.

I lived my whole life in the kitchen. Not only that, but it's the passion, it's the love for cooking and food. It's dictated my entire life - every aspect of it.

My parents owned a soul food diner. It inspired me to go to culinary school.

I'm obsessed with cooking! I want a degree in the culinary arts!

I went to L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I think French cooking is the basis for a lot of classical cuisine, a foundation of a lot of other cuisines. That said, it's not the only way to approach a cooking career.

So I quit my job and went to the New England Culinary Institute for the full two years and worked in the restaurant industry after that until finally I thought I had a grasp on what I needed to do what I do.