“She (my mother) never taught me to cook ... She taught me to smell. She told me, ‘Smell.” So, I would stand by the side of the pot. It was to sense everything--the onion, how it would turn golden and release all of its smells, and the sound. It was that ... It was to smell. She never told me, ‘Chop this or do that.’ We would go to the farmer’s market, and she would make me stop, and she would say, ‘Smell. Smell the apple. Smell the pear.’ Everything was about smell. So, I have an absolutely developed sense of smell.”

“For me, it’s about connecting to what I do. It doesn’t matter what it is. When it connects, this passion … It’s not about doing something just to do it or for the money or pay. It’s more than that. So, for me, it’s everything, because if I bake a croissant or bread, or if I cook meat, I have to feel that it’s good. If I know it’s good, then I know that the client will like it. They will love it.”