It doesn’t really matter what the occasion is – big or small – but it’s the connections that we have with people we love that nourish our souls. Entertaining isn’t just about making dinner parties. It’s about celebrating those connections and I think that’s what makes life worth living.

People have more fun if they don’t eat so much they have to be taken home in an ambulance.

If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken.

I’d like to think that when I invite friends to my house, they know what I’m really saying is, “I love you; come for dinner.

It’s so important that you don’t put the stuffing in the bird, where in order for the stuffing to get cooked you have to overcook the turkey. It’s better to do it on the side.

Food is about nurturing: not only physical but also emotional nurturing.

The planning is everything. Deciding which dishes you’re going to prepare can turn into the make-or-break decision five days later, when you actually serve the meal.

When I wrote ‘Barefoot in Paris,’ I wanted to make simple recipes that you could make at home that tasted like French classics.

I don’t like sitting at a table that’s too large, where everyone is too far apart. That’s a party killer.

The thing about all my food is that everything is a remembered flavor. Maybe it’s something I had as a child or maybe it’s something I had in Milan, but I want it to taste better than you ever thought.