One of the first jobs I ever had was opening clams in a seafood restaurant, so I'm pretty quick at it. Tom Colicchio More Quotes by Tom Colicchio More Quotes From Tom Colicchio I call all chefs cooks. They're all cooks. That's what we do, we cook. You're a chef when you're running a kitchen. Tom Colicchio kitchen running chef Im not a fan of grilling meat, since that tends to dry it out, and I find grill marks leave a bitter taste. A good steak house will offer different options for preparation, and I would ask them to broil or pan-roast the steak and finish it with butter. It ends up a dark chocolate color and stays very juicy. Tom Colicchio steak-house color dark I don’t think it was a bad idea to start with because we didn’t have any of the information we have now, i have a fairly liberal persona and never in a million years would consider myself a racist, so it never crossed my mind. Tom Colicchio lifestyle Don't touch my napkin. I do not want the server to pick up the napkin and put it on my lap. I know it belongs there; maybe I don't choose to put it there. Tom Colicchio choose touch know want I started cooking 30-something years ago. When I was 14, 15, I was a short-order cook in a snack bar. That was at a place called the Gran Centurions. It was an Italian-American swim club my parents belonged to. Tom Colicchio snack parents place cooking I remember at The Quilted Giraffe, when I was when working there to try out for the sous-chef position. I really wanted it, and the woman working the line next to me kept messing up and making me look bad. The last day of my kitchen trail, I just said to her very quietly, 'Do me a favor and get out of my way, because I want this job.' Tom Colicchio woman day look me I want to feed my kid something that is real and not processed. It's hard to do. People are working and busy. The question is: Is it worth it? Is it worth stopping at the farm stand or supermarket to buy fresh ingredients? Tom Colicchio stand real busy people If I'm doing an event, if it's a charity event, where it's a walk-around event, where I gotta put a thousand small plates out in the course of a four-hour event, I gotta make sure I can do something that I know I can produce, that's going to be consistent and good all night long. Tom Colicchio good charity night long Buy the best you can find or afford and don't over manipulate it. If I cook a scallop, the best praise you can give me is that it tastes like a scallop. Tom Colicchio best me you praise You hit a certain age and - especially because of TV - the young cooks coming up say, 'You're a sellout, because you're doing something other than what you should be doing.' 'Top Chef' is a double-edged sword for me: There's a whole group of people who will not come to the restaurants because they assume I'm not in them anymore, all I do is TV. Tom Colicchio me you age people There's the issue of hunger, and there's an issue of if you're going to cut out food programs. We should be focusing on healthy food. Right now, fruits and vegetables are very expensive. So what can we do on the policy side to bring the cost of fruits and vegetables down? Tom Colicchio down you vegetables food You want to be the baddest guy in the kitchen and you want the person next to you to know it. Tom Colicchio person know you kitchen
