I had turned down other head chef jobs. I didn't want to take over someone else's cuisine. I wanted to start from scratch.
I think the most effective way to run a kitchen is to teach, not to just yell.
As a young manager, I had no idea what it meant to be a chef.
I've always said that I think females make the best chefs anywhere in the world.
This kitchen is completely calm. Some of the old-fashioned chefs - they become kings in their kitchen, they've got to be called chef. But I don't care if someone calls me chef or Heston, it really doesn't bother me.
Before I had my own restaurant, I was never top dog in the kitchen. I've always had a low opinion of myself as a cook.
'Chef' doesn't mean that you're the best cook, it simply means 'boss.'
I call all chefs 'cooks.' They're all cooks. That's what we do, we cook. You're a chef when you're running a kitchen.
Chef Thomas Keller was an inspiration to me and many, many young cooks like me. He told us that the role of the new, modern chef is different.
We are about creating a new wave of talent. We are the Manchester United of kitchens now. Am I playing full-time in the kitchen? I am a player-coach.
