Roy Choi Quotes

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

When I moved to Los Angeles, I was cooking with two guys who became celebrity chefs, if you will. I became their sous chef for awhile. We'd go to all the big names in Hollywood.

Honestly... I only get starstruck over chefs.

Restaurants are a wonderful escape for me. And are for a lot of people.

I love that we are bringing the flavors of Frontera to Los Angeles. I think we can only add to the booming food community in Los Angeles. Our food is gutsy and soulful.

My aunt is a famous L.A. chef, Susan Feniger, and she's got Street and Border Grill. So a fun night out for me is to go to my aunt's restaurants.

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.

Restaurants and chefs have become followed by such a broad swath of the public, in a way that used to be reserved for sports stars, movie stars, and theater actors. Restaurants are in the firmament of today's common culture.

I especially love French, Italian and Japanese cuisines.

A workday lunch that lasts as long as a transcontinental flight is an impossibility for all but the most pliant and footloose of food tourists. To get in the game, you need a thick wallet, an adventurous palate, and a whole lot of time.

In Singapore, there is this life and locals and restaurants and then big casinos and an array of chefs, and even Miami is almost close to Vegas when it comes to an amazing presentation of chefs. But they don't have these massive hotels that have become their own culinary villages.

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.

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.

It's wild how chefs have become like rock stars.

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.

'Man v. Food' was the biggest career-defining opportunity. I went from anonymity to someone of note with access to amazing eateries.

I love trying out different cuisines. In Delhi, I love Megu at the Leela, and TK's at the Hyatt. I also enjoy Khan Chacha's rolls. In Mumbai, it's Royal China and Shiro. And in Bangalore, I like the food at Bricklane.

I'm obsessed with 'Top Chef'.

The culinary scene in Phoenix is incredible.

In 1981, we opened Felidia, and the newspapers, the city papers, the big timers came, and I got invited on the 'Today Show' and so on. A lot of food luminaries would come to Felidia - Julia Child, James Beard, they all came.

L.A. has such great restaurants, from fancy spots to hole-in-the-wall, there is something for everybody.

I don't understand people who travel purely gastronomically, who book a Michelin-starred restaurant three months in advance and suddenly find themselves in Copenhagen or Barcelona with a zeitgeist plate of snail porridge.

I enjoy eating Italian and Japanese cuisine, and abroad, I love Zuma, Nobu, and Cipriani.

I don't go for the nouvelle approach - serving a rabbit rump with coffee extract sauce and a slice of kiwi fruit.

I've never been to a hotel with a rotating restaurant on top, but one time I took my girlfriend to a merry-go-round, and I gave her a burrito.