No matter what it is you are cooking, buy the best ingredients you can afford. I don't care if it's a simple salad or Beef Wellington. A quality product stands alone and won't need any dressing up.
It is commonly said by farmers, that a good pear or apple costs no more time or pains to rear, than a poor one; so I would have no work of art, no speech, or action, or thought, or friend, but the best.
The key to a good meal is simplicity and the right seasoning.
I think speeches and fruit should always be fresh.
We gather perfect fruit from perfect trees.
When earth is rich it bids defiance to droughts, yields in abundance and of the best quality.
For me, the good food starts with good product.
I always sought out organic produce because to me it always tasted better; the quality was better - if you got it fresh.
I'm open to starting restaurants anywhere as long as the produce that's readily available is high quality. For example, I'm never doing a restaurant in Shanghai because I saw the produce available there, and it's just not good. I won't do a restaurant in Moscow for the same reason.
Go to the grocery store and buy better things. Buy quality, buy organic, buy natural, go to the farmers market. Immediately that's going to increase the quality of the food you make.
The perfect dressing is essential to the perfect salad, and I see no reason whatsoever for using a bottled dressing, which may have been sitting on the grocery shelf for weeks, even months - even years.
The better the ingredients, the more farmers I can buy from, the closer I feel to the food I want to make that represents what I care about as a chef.
Good asparagus needs minimal treatment and is best eaten with few other ingredients.
Always look for the best ingredients, treat the food you cook with respect, always read the entire recipe first, be organized, and have fun.
For me the best food in the world is New British. It's quite classical cooking with really simple but good-quality ingredients. I also like top-end restaurants and pub grub done well.
