"There's a battle between what the cook thinks is high art and what the customer just wants to eat."

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else. "

“I travel around and instead of my showing someone how to cook, I walk in with a completely hands-off approach, and they show me their dishes.”

Mario Batali, his bright orange crocs stand out from out far and you cannot miss him on the streets of New York. A great chef and a man with great words of gastronomy and life. Thinking about food and the Thanksgiving holiday ahead, I felt it only appropriate to hear a few words from Chef Batali. For to experience and ability to continue to learn the riches of our wonderful food and growth is something I am very grateful for- what an amazing opportunity cherished each day.

"As they say in Italy, Italians were eating with a knife and fork when the French were still eating each other. The Medici family had to bring their Tuscan cooks up there so they could make something edible. "

“The objective... is to achieve a comfort level between the cook/artist/performer and the customer/viewer/diner. And if we can achieve that, and the customers are happy and the cooks are happy, then we have a great experience.”

“There are all kinds of myths going on in the Italian culture, and the way they celebrate is through their food. It's the tradition of the table where the Italians celebrate most of their triumphs and successes.”


“Once you become an elaborate and well-developed culture, anything from Rome or the Etruscans, for that matter, the food starts to become a representation of what the culture is. When the food can transcend being just fuel, that's when you start to see these different permutations.”

"To eat the boiled head of a pig sliced like salami is very strange. It may seem cutting edge, but it's actually a lot older than any of the other traditional salami. "

"We would load up the yellow Cutlass Supreme station wagon and pick blackberries during blackberry season or spring onions during spring onion season. For us, food was part of the fabric of our day. "