Jean-Georges Vongerichten Quotes
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I arrived in New York in 1986, when I was 28. The market here was nothing. In the Union Square farmers' market, it was a couple of potatoes, everything from California. So the only place I was comfortable shopping was in Chinatown, because it all came from Hong Kong.
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Cooking at home is easier than cooking in the restaurant because you don't have to write a menu or try to please everybody.
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The toughest decision is always whether to open a restaurant. Two or three bad months, and you could be out of business.
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When I went to London, they told me I spoke with a funny accent - English with a Chinese accent.
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I spent seven years in France. Then, I went to Asia for five years. I came to London in 1984 and then America in 1985. In 1991, I opened my first restaurant in New York City.
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I'm cooking 42 years, and I didn't know bananas are good for my brain.
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I think food is getting lighter and healthier because people eat out so often. It's about quality ingredients because that is the root of good food.
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My grandmother taught me how to make the basic pate brise pastry crust when I was young. The one thing I learned simply by eating her endless variations on delicious tarts for dinner every night is that this dough can be used for just about anything - sweet or savory.
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At home, I never plate. Things go in the middle of the table, and you serve yourself. In the restaurant, every day I plate things, but at home, I want to enjoy my company.
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My two essential ingredients are chilies, any kind, dried or fresh; and acid, whether it's citrus - lemon, lime, yuzu - or vinegars. Food has to pop.
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Our best hits are real-estate stories, going back to our first, JoJo in 1991.
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The house is always full, and we're always cooking - outside, inside, for six, eight, a dozen, 20 people.
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I have 20 restaurants. And if one doesn't work, it doesn't work.
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Actually, I'd really love to do something in Bali, up in the mountains. A little restaurant with that scenery would be beautiful.
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I love creating new things. It's difficult to be creative once a restaurant's open. People want the same dishes. For me, the creativity is in opening a new place and starting a new menu.
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If we put a vinaigrette together, every part of it is weighed. For the burger, we do a bit of arugula, olive oil - everything is weighed. To the gram.
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In the morning, we sliced all the vegetables and layered everything up in a pot with a glass of Riesling. On the way to church, we dropped it off with the baker, who sealed the lid with a strip of dough and put it in his oven for a couple of hours. We picked it up at 12 o'clock and took it home to eat with mustard and salad.
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A chef and a restaurateur are different jobs: One is about pleasing people with what's on the plate; the other is about understanding the market. I'm a chef, but I think I'm a savvy businessperson, too.
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There is so much more vegetable use in Thailand, India and China than meat. Yes, when you go to the markets or buy street food, you see shrimp or chicken - but mostly vegetables.
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Pound Ridge is about five miles from our country house. When you go every weekend for the last ten years without fail, well, that starts to feel like a home.
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I love Sunday lunches with the family that start at 1 P.M. and finish at 5 P.M.
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My kitchen in New York City is in the Richard Meier building on Perry Street, so it's ultra-modern: white, glass and transparent. It's 180 square feet, with an induction stove. Everything's hidden, so you don't see the microwave or the fridge.
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Food is a part of life. People are foodies and love to shop for food.
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I arrived in Bangkok in 1980: I was 23 years old, and it changed my life.