I spent a college semester in a small town in Italy - and that is where I truly tasted food for the first time.

• The thing that helped me get into the film business was that I went to school in Athens, Georgia and managed to get on, um, working on music videos for a band called R.E.M. and that kind of opened up a lot of doors for me.
• I like television. I still believe that television is the most powerful form of communication on Earth - I just hate what is being done with it.
• A balanced diet may be the best medicine. I was eating too much good eats. But people consider that part of your job, you know? Eat. And I do!
• I say grace. I'm a big believer in grace. I happen to believe in a God that made all the food and so I'm pretty grateful for that and I thank him for that. But I'm also thankful for the people that put the food on the table.
• The worst food you'll ever eat will probably be prepared by a 'cook' who calls himself a 'chef.' Mark my words.
• Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it.
• The kitchen's a laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science. It's biology, chemistry, physics. Yes, there's history. Yes, there's artistry. Yes, to all of that. But what happened there, what actually happens to the food is all science.
• A lot of food shows need only to tempt. Some food shows only need to inspire, to empower. And there are a lot of shows that do that.
• I kept thinking, 'Somebody has to make a food show that is actually educational and entertaining at the same time... a show that got down to the 'why things happen.' Plus, I hated my job - I didn't think it was very worthwhile.
• You don't want flame to hit your food. Flame is bad. Flame does nasty things to food. It makes soot and it makes deposits of various chemicals that are not too good for us. The last thing you really want to see licking at your food while it's on a grill is an actual flame.