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" 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. "
Tom Colicchio
Kitchen
Running
Chef
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" I don't have a Facebook page and I don't think I will but Twitter for me is a way to take control of the message. Kind of wrestle it back. It's something I'm enjoying. "
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" I hate okra and grated mountain yam for the same reason. They're both slimy. "
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" You want to be the baddest guy in the kitchen and you want the person next to you to know it. "
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" My son, before he went to school, he'd eat pretty much everything. Then as soon as he went to school, he got some peer pressure, and other kids would say, 'Oh, you're gonna eat that. That's horrible. That's disgusting.' "
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" I travel around and hear from so many kids. Their parents say they were always very picky but they watch the show and they want to try stuff. The show is entertainment, but I think it has done so much for the public perception of what food can be. "
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" Many of them have accomplished a lot before they ever get to 'Top Chef' although they're not well known. The show just provides them with a platform. There's just one winner and on some seasons you can get numerous chefs that are really good. Even if they don't win, they're all talented. "
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" My chefs don't apply for 'Top Chef'. They all know that there is no way. At the end of the process I look at the resumes of the last 25 options just to make sure they've never worked for me before. "
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" One of the first jobs I ever had was opening clams in a seafood restaurant, so I'm pretty quick at it. "
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Jobs
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" Every chef should have an understanding of pastries or desserts. "
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" I want to feed my kid something that is real and not processed. It's hard to do. People are working and busy. The question is: Is it worth it? Is it worth stopping at the farm stand or supermarket to buy fresh ingredients? "
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" I get angry when I think that people are blatantly incorrect on matters of fact. "
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" Even cooking at home, the difference between my wife cooking and me cooking is major. When my wife cooks, the kitchen looks like a disaster. When I cook it's completely clean and organized and it doesn't look like anyone has been cooking in there. "
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" I think steak is the ultimate comfort food, and if you're going out for one, that isn't the time to scrimp on calories or quality. "
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Think
Time
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" We are not really privy to all that crazy stuff that goes on in the show. I go to work, eat, and talk about food. The wild things happen when we aren't around. I expected Top Chef to last three or four seasons and we are now shooting season ten. "
Tom Colicchio
Three
Food
Seasons
" You hit a certain age and - especially because of TV - the young cooks coming up say, 'You're a sellout, because you're doing something other than what you should be doing.' 'Top Chef' is a double-edged sword for me: There's a whole group of people who will not come to the restaurants because they assume I'm not in them anymore, all I do is TV. "
Tom Colicchio
Chef
Age
People
" My feeling is, if you're going to be called a celebrity, you might as well use it for some good. It's better to testify for school lunches in front of Congress than get drunk in a bar somewhere and misbehave. "
Tom Colicchio
Good
You
School
" It's funny how I use social media because I don't use it to promote my restaurants that much. I use it for social issues and I think that's what it's for. I do a few things - I mess around with music a lot because that's a passion of mine. If something strikes me and I want to share it, I do. "
Tom Colicchio
Social Media
Music
Me
" I can't deliver lines, but I can talk about food all night long. "
Tom Colicchio
I Can
Food
Talk
" I can't deal with a lot of spice but I have to eat it. I pay the price - I'm on medication for heartburn, so that's how I deal with it. "
Tom Colicchio
Pay
Spice
Deal
" I started cooking 30-something years ago. When I was 14, 15, I was a short-order cook in a snack bar. That was at a place called the Gran Centurions. It was an Italian-American swim club my parents belonged to. "
Tom Colicchio
Cooking
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Swim
" If I'm doing an event, if it's a charity event, where it's a walk-around event, where I gotta put a thousand small plates out in the course of a four-hour event, I gotta make sure I can do something that I know I can produce, that's going to be consistent and good all night long. "
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Know
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Charity
" Most cooks try to learn by making dishes. Doesn't mean you can cook. It means you can make that dish. When you can cook is when you can go to a farmers market, buy a bunch of stuff, then go home and make something without looking at a recipe. Now you're cooking. "
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Try
Looking
Cooking
" Right now I am kicking around an idea to do a web talk show on a boat. Guests would come on and go fishing with me. I would like to take people who have never fished: You get them out on the water and they really open up. "
Tom Colicchio
People
Me
I Am
" I think the patterns are set very early when the kids are young. But at the same time, there are some flavors kids just don't like. "
Tom Colicchio
Patterns
Early
Think
" 'Chef' doesn't mean that you're the best cook, it simply means 'boss.' "
Tom Colicchio
Cook
Boss
Chef
" I remember in the first season going, 'This is retarded. I can't believe they're making chefs do this.' But then it actually does show off certain skills. And at the end of the day, this is entertainment and this stuff is very entertaining. Is a lot of it ridiculous? Of course it is. But that's what makes it interesting. "
Tom Colicchio
Believe
End
End Of The Day
" I have very good knife skills. I learned to butcher on my second job - I was 18 years old. Every other day we would break down six legs of veal. "
Tom Colicchio
Good
Down
Day
" In New York, I'll walk down the street and someone will say, 'Nice show,' and that's it. If I'm at a food festival, it's open season. "
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Food
New York
Walk
" Asian food is very easy to like because it hits your mouth very differently than European food does. In European food, there may be two things to hit - maybe sweet and salty, maybe salty-savory, but Asian kind of works around, plus you have that distinct flavor that's usually working in Asian food. "
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Mouth
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" A couple of months ago, I was down in Florida for the Food and Wine Festival. And this journalist grabbed me and said, 'How does it feel to be a TV guy? You're no longer in the restaurant business.' And I laughed. I asked him, 'How long do you think it takes me to do a season?' He said, 'Well, 200 days.' And I was like, '200 days? Try 20!' "
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