Wolfgang Puck Quotes

I think the time of the formal dinners is over.

It's an interesting thing, Top Chef. Some of the contestants will make you one great dish, and then make you something on the next show that will make you say, "Is that the same person?"

There is no value with just one restaurant or with one person. The brand has to be bigger than the person.

Only you can judge your life. You have to live up to your own expectations.

Collecting cookbooks is still my biggest passion! Believe it or not, I actually got the biggest form of inspiration from my kids. My kids do everything online. They would have their tablets in front of them watching hours upon hours of online videos. I came to understand that these videos were actually teaching my kids lots of different forms of information.

I grew up in Austria, and for me real comfort food is Wiener Schnitzel. Wiener Schnitzel and mashed potatoes because it reminds me of my youth ... It reminds me when I grow up and it feels very comforting.

I love strong flavors too. Like I don't mind if it looks clean and clear and you know what you are eating if it has Italian, Chinese or Japanese flavor I love them all.

People are visual and hands on learners.

Most seasonings are based on family tradition.

Don't go and cook Indian food if you never cooked Indian food, you know?

I want to teach [people] the secret of great visual presentation. Your stomach sees the food first, and I want to help them match food flavor profiles with the aesthetics of everything.

I like Dover sole. It's always one of my favorites. I like it when I'm in England. I eat it every day almost. I think it's probably one of my favorite fish.

It was a revolution, but now it is an evolution. People know more ingredients, people know more techniques, and people look for more ingredients they've never looked for before. In the '80s, you couldn't find raw tuna in any restaurant that wasn't Japanese. Now, you can't find any restaurant without it or sashimi.

When you have made as many mistakes as I have, then you can be as good as me.

I learned more from the one restaurant that didn't work than from all the ones that were successes.

I always tell people that they are really the critics. If people come three times a week to your restaurant they are the ones who find something they really love.

Everybody has to put purees underneath everything now. It's like people think we need the steak, and then we need some baby food with it.

I grew up so poor in Austria that we never took a vacation with my family.

I would say that I mostly use Kosher Salt for seasoning my water and flour. I love sea salt, too. I think both are just fine, as long as it's not iodized salt.

Now everybody thinks that once you do Top Chef, then 13 weeks later you're a chef. Nobody wants to learn to cook anymore.

It is going to have healthy food and exercise mixed together. With smaller portions, and more exercise, you live a better life.

Food television opened the eyes, and palates, of our guests. They became more adventurous.

I want to give people a basic education, and to help them think for themselves when it comes to food.

I believe that London is the most exciting food city in Europe.

One thing I always say is being a great chef today is not enough - you have to be a great businessman.

My passion for writing cookbooks really came from my love of collecting cookbooks.

Omelets are about technique. Now, different people make it different ways, but, if you're a chef in Europe, an omelet has to be cooked on the outside, with just a simmer of color, and the inside has to be soft. It should be cooked like a steak - medium rare.

It's very important in a restaurant to really do the right hiring because there's no restaurant that you have one cook and one chef and nobody else in the kitchen. Generally you have five, ten, 15 people with you. So that's really important is to train them right, but first you have to hire the right people.

When you meet someone, ask about what hobby they have, not what they do. People always ask me about cooking, but I prefer to talk about tennis or boxing.

I want to help build their basic food terminology.

A chef is a mixture maybe of artistry and craft. You have to learn the craft really to get there.

I tell everybody the same thing: You have to make every dish so when you taste it, you should remember it when you go home.

You know, I never really thought of myself as a 'celebrity.' One of the titles that I like least is 'celebrity chef.'

It is so nice to talk to someone that has a passion for food and family.

I think I generally try to buy the best quality and keep it simple. I don't try to make too many decorations, too many things with it.

I won't quit my day job. I like restaurants. I don't do a lot of television, either, even though people come to me with projects all the time. I have to spend time in the kitchen.

Prep things in advance so that you don't have to cook everything at the last moment.

I like the Japanese knives, I like French knives. Whatever's sharp.

You can eat an omelet at midnight, at lunchtime, all day long. It's perfect for every occasion.

I think it's really important to keep on staying motivated.

Acting is a very artistic profession and there are thousands of people out there who think they are actors but there are very few who have real talent.

I fell in love with food because of my mother. So, I will definitely be sharing and expanding more recipes from my culture (as well as many other cultures), and will be sharing recipes that I have experienced from my whole culinary life.

You see fewer and fewer chefs who are really big - most stay in shape.

One of the things I've found now, not just for television, but in the restaurant, is that you have many anxious chefs, who know how to cook twenty recipes really well, but they don't have a good foundation for other things.

It's a myth that generally Asians are mostly vegetarians. The Japanese are the kings of red meat, but it's expensive. The Chinese and Vietnamese love their pork. Many Indians, especially the Muslims, can't live without their lamb.