Charlie Trotter Quotes

When I am up in Paris then the restaurant which has remained my favourite for the past decade is Guy Savoy. The menu is huge, sophisticated and very creative but I keep to simple choices.

I have experienced some amazing food! Yet when I think about the most luxurious and exquisite meals I have had, visions of simple food made from a few natural ingredients are what most excite me.

Balthazar has a great New York vibe with the accent of a Parisian brasserie. I usually have the corned beef hash with a fried egg on top and wash it all down with Krug Champagne.

One of my favorites to order in fancy restaurants is escargot.

I could probably die happy with a cheeseboard and a glass of French red wine - that's my idea of a perfect dinner.

Ruth's Chris is my favorite restaurant, and I always order the rib eye, medium-rare.

I consider a perfect hot dog on the street to be as valid a food experience as dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

'Fine dining.' I'd love to know who coined the term and whether they meant it to be as offputting as it is. The words evoke an idea of phoney refinement, of needless flummery, snooty waiters, and an atmosphere designed to intimidate the customer.

I've actually eaten in The Ivy in London. I love their shepherd's pie.

We also have favourite place in France, called Charlot Premier in Nice, which does excellent oysters.

When people arrive at El Bulli, everybody goes through the kitchen. It's a way of making them feel at home. When they leave, the only thing I ask is whether they've been happy. Everything in between, I don't particularly care.

'Fine casual' means taking the cultural priorities that fine dining, at its best, believes in.

A gastronomical supermeal didn't necessarily have to involve the things I had brought from other top kitchens.

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

Fine dining is an occasional treat for most people.

All four elements were happening in equal measure - the cuisine, the wine, the service, and the overall ambience. It taught me that dining could happen at a spiritual level.

The only kind of restaurant I could imagine doing would be the extraordinarily snooty restaurant with three or four tables, and I would cook what I felt like cooking. And you could eat it or not.

One of my great teachers was the late Jean-Claude Vrinat of Taillevent in Paris.

The disparity between a restaurant's price and food quality rises in direct proportion to the size of the pepper mill.

I think fine dining should be part of the community where it is, more than just for the people who are going to make a special occasion.

In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.

I love restaurants from top to bottom.

I still feel that French cooking is the most important in the world, one of the few that has rules. If you follow the rules, you can do pretty well.

When I'm in L.A., I go to Spago because the chef is a friend of mine.

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.