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" I think it's important for anyone who is artistic to look back on their body of work and be critical. Maybe the Beatles can look back and say everything was perfect, but we've come up with hundreds and hundreds of dishes, and anyone who is honest with themselves has to realize that every single one wasn't an absolute, unequivocal home run. "

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" We have a funny sort of love/hate relationship with critics because, unfortunately, in the art/commerce dance that we do, they drive people to the restaurant. Regardless of sometimes how well we prepare the food, if people don't know that we're out there, if someone isn't talking about us, you guys aren't coming. "

Wylie Dufresne

Funny

People

Relationship

" People have been manipulating food ever since they realized cooking a whole animal was difficult. Cows don't come in hot dog form. "

" I don't think of eggs as being fundamental to the flavor of mayonnaise, but they are to Hollandaise. "

" Okay, a lot of people think that I'm someone known for a love of eggs and egg cookery. Being asked to endorse an egg yolk separator, I mean, I understood where it came from, but it didn't seem necessarily like something that was ultimately worth pursuing. "

" I find it much more compelling to make a four-biter that leaves you wishing that you had a fifth. I think 'the tyranny of the entree' is the right way to put it. I don't want to build this giant plate of food. "

" There will never be a universal way of cooking, but information will always be universally useful. "

" I can fry hollandaise, I can fry ketchup, I can fry mustard. "

" I present classics in an unfamiliar way or unfamiliar ingredients and preparations in a classical way. "

" I would like to, at some point, do a cookbook. "

Wylie Dufresne

Point

Cookbook

" I think I can poach a pretty mean egg the old-fashioned way. "

" I don't like the term 'dinner as theater,' because that implies something thespian that I don't want to tie into this, but there are plenty of times that people go out to dinner because they want to have an experience. There are, however, probably many more times that people go out to eat because it's 7 o'clock and it's time to eat. "

" When ramps are in season, we pickle a bunch of ramps and fold that into soup. Pickled pearl onions are great chopped up or pureed. "

Wylie Dufresne

Season

Pearl

" Green vegetables are something that fascinate chefs; the ability to keep vegetables green. How do we keep them green? What makes them green? Why are they green? And then that sort of army green. Why do they go from bright vibrant electric green to army green, and how can we avoid that? "

" I was working for a chef a long time ago who told me to not skip steps or be in a hurry. Success in a kitchen is more like a marathon and less like a sprint. Rising up the ranks too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing. This advice was from a guy who was sorry he had done that and didn't want me to do the same. "

" Eggs are one of my all-time favorite foods, and making the over-easy egg is a test of skill. "

" It's a funny thing, but it's often overlooked that I'm a huge devout lover of French cooking. I have the utmost respect for them, though they have lost their respect for me because they think the way I cook is nutty. "

Wylie Dufresne

Lost

Think

" 'Top Chef' is always entertaining - it's hard to stop watching, like a good hockey fight, but no one gets hurt. It's great that the format is so inherently dramatic and can make cooking so entertaining to people who might not ordinarily be interested in a cooking show. Good for the industry all round. "

" I like all cheese, but my guiltiest pleasure is definitely American cheese. "

Wylie Dufresne

Pleasure

American

" I have strong feelings about cookbooks because I am a lover of them and student of them and devourer of them and collect them. I find them to be a great source of inspiration. When I was a cook and not making much money, I always used to spend most of what I had on cookbooks. "

" Being a chef isn't the ideal career to intersect with parenting, but I try to be in my kids' lives as much as possible. "

" As a pure source of reference, 'Modernist Cuisine' is incredibly helpful. It's like a modern-day encyclopedia, except for a single subject. It's not always the answer, but it's always a starting point. I feel honored to have been able to contribute to it. "

" I really don't do much on the night of Thanksgiving other than bring the wine and carve the turkey. My contribution comes the day after, in the form of breakfast. I usually just forage through the leftovers for things that will go well with eggs. "

Wylie Dufresne

Thanksgiving

Night

" I think things like 'farm to table' are misleading. I think sometimes that becomes a pedestal or a soap box to get people into your restaurant but is not... it's almost empty in a way. I mean, my food comes from a farm, and I serve it on a table. "

" Neighborhoods change. In some ways, it's part of the beauty of New York City. It's in a constant state of flux. "

" The East Village is where I cut my teeth as a kid. I ran around here on a skateboard. "

" I would say that molecular gastronomy is a field of science. I would - I would say that it's probably lumped under chemistry, maybe. Because cooking, while it has certainly biology and some physics, it's mostly chemistry. "

" There will never be a right or wrong way to cook something, but there will always be a more informed way. "

" I have no interest in vegetarians whatsoever. Zero. Less than zero. "

" I've been asked to endorse lots of different pieces of equipment. It's not necessarily that it's an awful thing to be asked to endorse something, because it's inherently a compliment to your skills, your abilities, on a level. But sometimes it's just not the right fit. "

" Fish butchering means a lot to me as a chef; I take pride in it and get a lot of joy from filleting fish, working with fish, breaking down fish, trying to understand fish. "