Carla Hall Quotes

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

I see City Perch as a destination restaurant.

I have someone that cooks for me... that's the best thing ever. I just want to show up and I want my house to be like a hotel... so I want to have a couple of options... I like to have a couple of options.

Though I love the luxury of the Waldorf Towers, room service there doesn't do soul food.

At fancy and expensive restaurants (say, $50 and up for a dinner), you can follow a simple procedure to choose the best meal. Look at the menu and ask yourself: 'Which of these items do I least want to order?' Or: 'Which one sounds the least appetizing?' Then order that item.

It wasn't the traditional cooking most people do. For me, as a young chef, Thanksgiving meant going to work in the kitchen at places like Gotham, JoJo and Jean-Georges.

You know the great irony is that people think you have to have money to enjoy fine food, which is a shame.

Now the restaurants have begun to catch up with the wine-making; there are numerous great restaurants in Napa Valley, and it's wonderful because the people are there for just that: great food and great wine.

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.

Alinea is not the type of restaurant where you go if you're in a hurry. Really, it's about enjoying that three-hour block of time and reflecting on the food, having great conversation with your dining companion.

A gourmet meal without a glass of wine just seems tragic to me somehow.

I enjoy the burger joint the same way I enjoy fancy meals.

I used to love fine dining, but I lost my appetite for it to a degree because sometimes it is too much about the effort and too little about the result.

I think the price of the food can totally alter the perception of it. If I know something is expensive and the ambience is fancy, the food just invariably tastes a little better - and I feel like I'm getting away with something. But I'm also bored by most 'fancy' food.

Way back in the day, I used to cook for Thomas Keller at Rakel in New York City. Keller is a down to earth, kind, supportive person. I wish people could see that.

I love Franschhoek, and straight off the plane, I went to the incomparable Quartier Francais, on the main street, for breakfast. This small hotel and restaurant is regularly near the top of every poll for best hotel and restaurant in Africa.

I go to Michelin-starred restaurants as part of my job, but that's not how I want to eat all the time.

I eat everything. I still like to go to Peter Luger once in a while.

I was a food tour guide - I took people on a tour to different restaurants in the area.

I used to eat Danny Kaye's food. I had his Chinese and Italian meals, and that was as good as it gets.

After attending The Dalton School and then Vassar College, I began cooking in New York City restaurants helmed by Anne Rosenzweig, Joachim Splichal and Thomas Keller.

For my 16th birthday, my family took me to L'Auberge de L'Ill, which was family-run but had three Michelin stars. It was a revelation. After that meal, I realised this is what I want to do.

Anybody can cook for chefs. I cooked for a three Michelin star chef when I was cooking at home.

I love eating out. I don't deny that. But I don't want 12 or 15 courses because the chef wants me to taste this or taste that. I just want to be able to decide.

...appetite turns common food into the fare of kings.