Because I’m so known as a meat-chef, when I talk about Meatless Monday some people look at me like I’ve lost my mind. I’m like, look, I’m not saying beef and pork is bad, I love it and I eat it six days a week. Michael Symon Read Quote
Recipes are important but only to a point. What’s more important than recipes is how we think about food, and a good cookbook should open up a new way of doing just that. Michael Symon Read Quote
On ‘Chopped,’ the time goes down a bit and there are several ingredients, usually one that makes no sense whatsoever with the rest of the ingredients. So it gets you out of your culinary comfort zone a little bit. Like we had octopus and cheese paired up with each other. Michael Symon Read Quote
I love doing demonstrations. I think to be a great chef you have to be a great teacher. I love doing classes with people who love food and enjoy food, bringing them all around one table so to speak. Michael Symon Read Quote
My restaurants are never opened on Thanksgiving; I want my staff to spend time with their family if they can. My feeling is, if I can’t figure out how to make money the rest of the year so that my workers can enjoy the holidays, then I don’t deserve to be an owner. Michael Symon Read Quote
Every lesson I learned as a kid was at the dinner table. Being Greek, Sicilian and Ruthenian – we are an emotional bunch. It is where we laughed, cried and yelled – but most importantly, where we bonded and connected. Michael Symon Read Quote
I’m a firm believer that all this packaged stuff that Americans are buying up in gobs is making them fatter. Michael Symon Read Quote
I always tell my employees, the busier it gets, the slower you should cook. When you run around like a crazy person, that’s when things go wrong. Michael Symon Read Quote
My goal in ‘Live to Cook’ is to make great food more approachable for home cooks. Michael Symon Read Quote
Sitting down for dinner not only helps you learn, but also teaches you how to listen – which I feel is the most important skill to have. I remember as a kid going around the table listening to everyone’s day. It was hard to have the manners not to interrupt back then. Michael Symon Read Quote
