Thomas Keller Quotes & Sayings

It's not about perfection; it's about the joy of striving. — Thomas Keller

Cooking is not about convenience and it's not about shortcuts. Our hunger for the twenty-minute gourmet meal, for one-pot ease and prewashed, precut ingredients has severed our lifeline to the satisfactions of cooking. Take your time. Take a long time. Move slowly and deliberately and with great attention. — Thomas Keller

You have to be driven. You have to be focused. You have to be aware. — Thomas Keller

I believe Fernand Point is one of the last true gourmands of the 20th century. His ruminations are extraordinary and thought-provoking. He has been an inspiration for legions of chefs. — Thomas Keller

Success is measured by the memories you create. — Thomas Keller

I think that's the important thing - being aware of that inspiration and being able to interpret it into something that's meaningful for you. — Thomas Keller

For me, thats one of the important things about cooking. What was good enough yesterday may not be good enough today. — Thomas Keller

We rely on our purveyors to tell us what's available and what's good. — Thomas Keller

Food is such an important part of our lives, and sometimes we tend to diminish the importance of that, because we rely on conveniences or because our lives are so complicated. We forget about those moments that we can actually share around the table with our family, with our friends, with our loved ones. — Thomas Keller

No, it's funny, when I eat out it's not typically in the kind of restaurants people might imagine. — Thomas Keller

Any job worth doing is worth doing well. But to be able to do that, you have to do it over and over again. — Thomas Keller

The media builds you up, and then it tears you down. — Thomas Keller

You're getting to know who the great chefs are through their books. — Thomas Keller

I came to understand that the words executive and corporate never belong next to the word chef. — Thomas Keller

Now the restaurants have begun to catch up with the wine-making; there are numerous great restaurants in Napa Valley, and it's wonderful because the people are there for just that: great food and great wine. — Thomas Keller

With passion, if you see the first asparagus of the springtime and you become passionate about it, so much the better, but three weeks later, when you've seen that asparagus every day now, passions have subsided. What's going to make you treat the asparagus the same? It's the desire. — Thomas Keller

And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient! — Thomas Keller

The law of diminishing returns is something I really believe in. — Thomas Keller

They know what my standards are. They know what I need and how to get it to me, and they know how to communicate with me if for some reason they can't get it. — Thomas Keller

One of the problems with writing a cookbook is that recipes exist in the moment. — Thomas Keller

A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. — Thomas Keller

When we eat together, when we set out to do so deliberately, life is better, no matter what your circumstances. — Thomas Keller

I think if you can take one or two things from a cookbook, it's successful. — Thomas Keller

I didnt want to be encumbered by what anyone elses abilities were, their equipment or environment or their ability to get certain products. — Thomas Keller

A kaiseki meal is like that, very small courses over a long period of time. — Thomas Keller

I like to drink young wines, wines which are robust and have a lot of forward fruit to them. — Thomas Keller

Anyone can make a good roast chicken. — Thomas Keller

Your idea of that dish has evolved, and if you're a cook, you can start thinking in different ways about it, maybe even a different way than I think about it. — Thomas Keller

We go through our careers and things happen to us. Those experiences made me what I am. — Thomas Keller

In any restaurant of this caliber, the chefs are in the same position, building relationships. — Thomas Keller

I think that you've got to make something that pleases you and hope that other people feel the same way. — Thomas Keller

I think every young cook wants to write a book. — Thomas Keller

But once in a while you might see me at In and Out Burger; they make the best fast food hamburgers around. — Thomas Keller

Vegetables to me are - I don't want to say the most exciting part of cooking, but certainly a very exciting part of cooking, because they continue to change. They come into season and they go through different phases. — Thomas Keller

Good food is a good trend. — Thomas Keller

This is the great challenge: to maintain passion for the everyday routine and the endlessly repeated act, to derive deep gratification from the mundane. — Thomas Keller

I wanted to learn everything I could about what it takes to be a great chef. It was a turning point for me. — Thomas Keller

Whether it's destiny or fate or whatever, I don't think I could do a French Laundry anywhere else. — Thomas Keller

Larousse is an invaluable tool for any cook. I've used this great resource all throughout my cooking career, and of course I look forward to the new edition. New information and knowledge are always welcome. — Thomas Keller

Even the most astute chefs seek out the assistance of Celine Labaune, owner of Gourmet Attitude, because they know they can rely on her keen senses and deep understanding of the truffle trade. — Thomas Keller

I wonder if I love the communal act of eating so much because throughout my childhood, with four older brothers and a mom who worked in the restaurant business, I spent a lot of time fending for myself, eating alone - and recognizing how eating together made all the difference. — Thomas Keller

A cookbook must have recipes, but it shouldn't be a blueprint. It should be more inspirational; it should be a guide. — Thomas Keller

My favorite wines are Zinfandels. — Thomas Keller

I have no formal culinary training, right. — Thomas Keller

Hopefully, imparting what's important to me, respect for the food and that information about the purveyors, people will realize that for a restaurant to be good, so many pieces have to come together. — Thomas Keller

Its not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it's about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then u'll be a great cook. — Thomas Keller

Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. — Thomas Keller

Respect for food is respect for life, for who we are and what we do. — Thomas Keller

You don't know when inspiration is going to come. But you have to be aware of what's going on around you, so that at any moment, when inspiration happens, you're ready for it and you interpret it. — Thomas Keller

I don't think you could have a 7 with a manual. But I can't see having a BMW sports sedan without a manual. — Thomas Keller

Let's face it: if you and I have the same capabilities, the same energy, the same staff, if the only thing that's different between you and me is the products we can get, and I can get a better product than you, I'm going to be a better chef. — Thomas Keller

I drank more wine when I wasn't working as much, to be honest. — Thomas Keller

I guess the main source of stress for me is the stress I put on myself. — Thomas Keller

Historically in restaurants, the service staff is awarded significantly higher wages than cooks and other staff who prepare the food on which a restaurant's reputation is based. The gap in pay is so great that it is becoming increasingly difficult for young cooks to pursue their passion at the rate of pay restaurants are able to afford. — Thomas Keller

It's one thing you aspire to: someday, you'll be able to write a book. — Thomas Keller

When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about. — Thomas Keller

I wanted to write about what we were doing at the French Laundry, the recipes and the stories. — Thomas Keller

When I go out to eat, it's usually something moderate in style. — Thomas Keller

Food should be fun. — Thomas Keller

Then, as the day progresses, depending on how the product is coming in - for instance, the fish man will fax us and say black bass is great - throughout the day, we'll also make judgment calls and adapt to what's available. — Thomas Keller

It wasn't about mechanics; it was about a feeling, wanting to give someone something, which in turn was really gratifying. That really resonated for me. — Thomas Keller

Some of the recipes in the book have evolved for us. Many haven't. — Thomas Keller

The book is there for inspiration and as a foundation, the fundamentals on which to build. — Thomas Keller

I hope the cooks who are working for me now are getting that kind of experience so they can use what they're learning now as a foundation for a great career. — Thomas Keller

My childhood wasn't full of wonderful culinary memories. — Thomas Keller