Wolfgang Puck quotes:

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

I think the time of the formal dinners is over.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

America has undergone a total food and wine revolution.

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.

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

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

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 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.

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.

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

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

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 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.

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

I want to help build their basic food terminology.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?"

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

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.

Most seasonings are based on family tradition.

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

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

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.

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.

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

People are visual and hands on learners.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.