Culinary Aspirations Quotes

I've never said I was a chef - I think I make great food. I will never open a restaurant to do, like, tasting courses.

When I was twelve, I decided to become a chef. I stole a book from the library about the greatest restaurants in France. I'd flip the pages and dream. I should return that book to the library some day.

My father cried when I said I wanted to be a chef.

I was doing auditions and meetings during the day and going to culinary school at night. And then 'NCIS' happened. So I dropped out of culinary school.

It is great to add some glamour to the food industry, like television shows have done for the food world and inspiring people to work in the industry. The flip side of that is unfortunately people think that after they get their qualifications, they get their invitation to compete on 'Top Chef.'

We now have a generation of people who in many cases feel that if they become chefs, they'll get a TV show. They have a signature haircut, a year into the business, or a branding arrangement with a shoe company. I don't really relate to that. I guess this is the world we live in now.

I think every young cook wants to write a book.

Middle age is when you realize that you'll never live long enough to try all the recipes you spent thirty years clipping out of newspapers and magazines.

Too many books are full of recipes that aren't doable at home. They are purely aspirational. They are quite frightening, even for me.

I was born imagining myself with an apron on, with pies cooling on the window sill and babies crying upstairs. I thought that all that stuff would somehow anchor me to the planet, that it was the weight I needed to keep from just flying off into space.

When I was really, really young, I wanted to be a cook at Bob Evans because my parents would always go there every Sunday after church.

One day, I'll open my own restaurant or do something related to food, though I can't cook to save my life.