In that sense, what a great way to live, if you could always do things that interest you, and do them with people who interest you.
That without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, moribund.
Luck is not a business model.
The journey is part of the experience – an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.
An ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins.
In this way, writers are indeed, as Henry Miller suggested, traitors to the human race. We may turn a light on inequity, injustice, and oppression from time to time, but we regularly kill what we love in insidious fashion.
I’ve long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime ‘associates,’ food, for me, has always been an adventure.
Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don’t deserve to eat garlic.
There is no Final Resting Place of the Mind.
I am not a fan of people who abuse service staff. In fact, I find it intolerable. It’s an unpardonable sin as far as I’m concerned, taking out personal business or some other kind of dissatisfaction on a waiter or busboy.
I lurched away from the table after a few hours feeling like Elvis in Vegas – fat, drugged, and completely out of it.
Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one’s life.
Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.
Drink heavily with locals whenever possible.
One of life’s terrible truths is that women like guys who seem to know what they’re doing.
I’m not impressed by any cooks who can brag about a filet mignon. A guy who can take the neck of a shank or can use tripe to make into something delicious is really interesting to me; that’s impressive.
I, a product of the New Frontier and Great Society, honestly believed that the world pretty much owed me a living – all I had to do was wait around in order to live better than my parents.
The way you make an omelet reveals your character.
For their own good, vegetarians should never be allowed near fine beers and ales. It will only make them loud and belligerent, and they lack the physical strength and aggressive nature to back up any drunken assertions.
You dropped a 500-seat deuce on Times Square.