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

The image foreigners have of French cuisine is fattening and very fancy food. But it’s not true – French food isn’t just rich. The word “healthy” doesn’t exist in French.

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.

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.

Classical cooking and molecular gastronomy should remain separate.

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.

Reading a good book in silence is like eating chocolate for the rest of your life and never getting fat.

Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That’s my motto.

Humor is the chocolate chips in the ice cream of life.

I like to serve chocolate cake, because it doesn’t show the dirt.

I don’t really need a personal trainer or watch what I eat. I can’t start the day without a hot chocolate or finish it without a few squares of dark chocolate. It’s good for my mood!

When I have bad days, I just eat lots of chocolate ice cream and dance to the ‘Lion King’ soundtrack. It’s really odd, but it’s true.

My wife can’t cook at all. She made chocolate mousse. An antler got stuck in my throat.

Since both its national products, snow and chocolate, melt, the cuckoo clock was invented solely in order to give tourists something solid to remember it by.