I was in a show choir. I can’t sing or dance to save my life, but I was very passionate. People said my parents paid the choir director to let me in. It was actually the parents who started that one!
I had the Buffalo shoes, a customised Baby Spice necklace – when I say custom-made, it was made out of plastic from the local mall – and a Union Jack dress.
I have smuggled so many ingredients across so many borders, like shallot confit from Thailand, or a new sauce from New Orleans not approved by the FDA.
The New York that Frank Sinatra sang about, people will never know that place. The New Orleans that Louis Armstrong sang about is the New Orleans that’s still there – it’s preserved.
There are looks that I see on other people that I think would look horrible on me, but I think if somebody has the courage to be really daring and try something outlandish, then more power to them. That’s just encouraging and inspiring.
I’ll never forget the time my mother showed up with her best friend and two daughters, and all four of us dressed up in matching clothes, shoes and hats to go pick up my brother from school.
