Wolfgang Puck Quotations

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

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.

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.

A good chef has to be a manager, a businessman and a great cook. To marry all three together is sometimes difficult.

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

For me, I don't expect to have a really amazing meal each time I dine out. Having a good meal with your loved ones - that's what makes the experience.

Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors - it's how you combine them that sets you apart.

Italian food is all about ingredients and it's not fussy and it's not fancy.

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

For me, cooking is an expression of the land where you are and the culture of that place.

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

A lot of chefs are traditional and do it very well. But the ones who are the most successful are the ones who change things. That is why someone like Heston Blumenthal is a genius.

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

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

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

The most important thing for me is to really buy the best ingredient.

I left school when I was 14 to work in kitchens.

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.

A lot of restaurants serve good food, but they don't have very good service.

I like to be firm. But it is easier to be nice than to be nasty.

If you're cooking for a woman, make a good risotto and a salad. If you don't have time to make desert you can go and buy some macaroons to have afterwards.

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.

There's a lot of processed food in America and I know that can make some tourists who're used to fresh food feel sick.

Restaurants are like having children: it's fun to make them, maybe, but then you have them for good and bad. You are going to have to raise them and if something goes wrong when they are 30 years old, they will still be your little boy.

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.

When I do a cooking class now, I tell people that the most important part is to read the recipe many times so you know what you're doing. What I don't tell them, though, is that sometimes I do parties where I'm rushing so much I don't have time to follow my own advice.

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

New Yorkers think they have everything, all the best art and music. But really L.A. is a better place.

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

I think the time of the formal dinners is over.

What I don't like is breakfast in the morning. I have a double-espresso cappuccino, but no food.

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.

When I'm in Los Angeles, my wife and I go to the farmers' market with the kids every Sunday.

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

I really love Paris. It's my favorite city.

Television in the '80s was very limited. There was no Food Network.

When I was 27, if I didn't put 15 things in one dish I wasn't happy.

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.

The good news about showcasing chefs and the TV shows is they've attracted a lot more smart kids to the profession than 30 years ago. On the downside, though, these young chefs all say they want their own restaurant and their own TV show.

In L.A. you live in a big city, but you feel like you're in the countryside. For example, I can be at home in the swimming pool and be five minutes from everything.

For example, you can eat a Caesar salad and say, "Wow, I ate so healthy today." You forget there was a quarter-cup of oil in there, and all the calories are from fat. So it's better if you eat a grilled chicken breast, some steamed brown rice, and a little salad with balsamic vinegar on top.

I've discussed this with many doctors, and it is just so imperative that people learn how to properly cook food to get those vital nutrients out of them.

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

Most seasonings are based on family tradition.

Stay away from iodized table salt. It's just bad and doesn't help food taste good.

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.

Nutrition is just so important to me, mostly especially for children.

The usage of proper salt is really just a small piece of education. However, I want people to really get the proper nutrition from food for them and their family.

I want to teach people how to do it the right way. And it is from that they can teach their children how to do it properly. It will teach them how to cook better and healthier at home.

People are visual and hands on learners.

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.

I think the most important thing when you are in a competition and you have, let's say, ingredients you have to use make something you did already because none of the judges, you know, probably had it in our lifetime, so I think do something you feel confident with, not something completely new where you are not sure how many hours or how many minutes you have to cook it or if the seasoning is right or if the combinations of spices and herbs are right.

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

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.

Thirty-five years ago, being a cook was the same as being a used-car salesman.

I want to help build their basic food terminology.

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

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.

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

I used to write cookbooks. It was passion to try to bring healthy and fun recipes to people's homes. It was a way to bring my home to theirs.

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.

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.

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.

The food could taste amazing; however, if you present a plate of misfortunate looking food...you would really question yourself about whether or not you should eat it.

I have two young boys, and my wife is at home. Most of the time, I will cook the food, and we'll eat together.

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.

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

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

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

The only way to teach people how to truly do it and do it the right way, is to get those ingredients and kitchen tools in front of them and in their hands to use.

America has undergone a total food and wine revolution.

To me, an airplane is a great place to diet.

Young people want to be famous before they know how to cook, before they know how to treat people, before they know what hospitality means. I stayed in France for seven years and Austria for three, so before I was a chef anywhere I was already cooking for 10 years.

Television in the '80s was very limited. There was no Food Network. When I opened Spago, I had the kitchen in the dining hall. It was probably the first restaurant to do so. The dining scene became more casual. All these cooking shows have transformed our profession one-hundred percent.

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.

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?"

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

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

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

Restaurants are like having children: its fun to make them, maybe, but then you have them for good and bad. You are going to have to raise them and if something goes wrong when they are 30 years old, they will still be your little boy.

It's easier being a judge than a competitor. As a judge, you don't have any risks. That makes it much more enjoyable.

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