“Classical cooking and molecular gastronomy should remain separate.”

The relentless pursuit of being different is very French.

Cuisine has become too complicated – this is about subject, verb, adjective: duck, turnips, sauce.

Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one, you might as well have two.

At my home in the southwest of France, I grow oak, hazel, and lemon trees in my backyard.

Everywhere in the world there are tensions – economic, political, religious. So we need chocolate.

Techniques are not the most difficult to teach. The attitudes chefs take are much more important.

I have a very modern way of thinking; the chef is there to lead the team and not just to sit behind the piano.

The planets resources are rare; we must consume more ethically and equitably.

It should be slow-cooked and seasonal. That’s my vision.

You can mix two styles and get fusion; any more and you just get confusion.

Nowadays, food needs to be healthy, local, sustainable and not filled with too much fat, salt or sugar.

The Asian airlines have the best wine programs.

Tasting a dish should be memorable If nothing remains in the memory of a single guest, then I have made a mistake.

Failure is enriching. It’s also important to accept that you’ll make mistakes – it’s how you build your expertise.

It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten.

The trick is to learn a positive lesson from all of life’s negative moments.

I would like my work to be recognized as being in the classical tradition (Coptic, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese), as representing the Ideal in the mind. Classical art cannot possibly be eclectic.

I don’t care if it’s classical, funk, salsa, reggae, calypso; it’s all dance music.

I’m a self-taught guitarist, but I have a classical music background.

I have a huge record and cd collection of all kinds of great classical, jazz and all music but I find the internet very accessible and quick.

Suddenly I’ve got an overwhelming desire to surround myself with the aura of classical and Romantic art.

I’m not handsome in the classical sense. The eyes droop, the mouth is crooked, the teeth aren’t straight, the voice sounds like a Mafioso pallbearer, but somehow it all works.

I got obsessed with classical music, I got obsessed with Chopin, with playing the piano.

I love classical music. I love a lot of musicians playing together and the whole culture of that, whether it’s Indian or it’s Western.