Antonia Lofaso

“Traditions are built by that one person who starts something new and does it over and over again - even if it fails on the first attempt.”

“I've definitely been in a situation where the producers have a certain group of people that they want to stay because their personalities are great or whatever, but the shows that I do it's 100% gameplay, food, and technique.”

“April Bloomfield and Gabrielle Hamilton make really thoughtful, perfect food.”

“Anything that I can do for Los Angeles, I'm in.”

“I love Stouffer's French bread pizza. It's so good.”

“The least amount of oil you can use when you're cooking and the least amount of dairy you can use when you're cooking, I think the better.”

“That's the whole idea of a competition. There are going to be advantages and disadvantages, and it's about who prevails in those moments.”

“When you use food as a way to communicate and connect, build memories and gain new skills, it's fantastic.”

“As much as my day moves and shifts, meal prep, or as I like to call it, 'tomorrow food,' is important.”

“My mom would have 'ice cream parties' in her bedroom when my dad had to work the graveyard shift. She would snuggle us in her bed and give us toasted pound cake with ice cream and fresh fruit. My dad would come home to find us all asleep in one bed with scattered bowls and spoons everywhere.”

“We made rice balls every Thanksgiving and Christmas. My family formed an assembly line. You'd play with it, stuff it, roll it in breadcrumbs, and then drop it into the fryer. We'd make so many of them. My family not only planned their meals; we planned the leftovers, too.”

“I'd connect all of my Barbie dreamhouses and make them into mansions that would go from under my bed up into the closet onto a side table and pretty much just take over the whole room.”

“I'm used to being in a male-dominated arena and have thick skin.”

“It's been really nice to have people want to come out and support you and want to come out and see what you're doing. They are so willing to support any of the 'Top Chefs' because they kind of fall in love with their story because they spend so many weeks watching them on TV and seeing what they are going through.”

“I just want to cook good food and cook good food that pleases people.”

“Once I've decided on my menu for the whole week, I build a shopping list.”

“The experience of sharing stories, creating memories over food, is dying. That's what I did when I was young, that's how I got to know my parents and my grandparents. And you don't have to do work for four hours on a four-course meal to achieve that. You can sit around the table and talk over Rice-a-Roni and a fried egg.”

“Meal prep seems like a task, but it pays off in volumes.”

“I think one difference is that women don't cook from a place of ego; they cook to please their customer.”

“Lobster rolls are my absolute favorite Fourth of July sandwich on the planet!”