Graham Elliot

“I've traveled all over. I've been to all 50 states. With my dad in the Navy, I lived in the Philippines from nine to 12, and I had dog, monkey, lizard, everything. Then I was in Hawaii, and I'm spear-fishing, catching octopus with my hands.”

“Even though I live in and love Chicago, I can't stand deep-dish pizza. I'm a New York-style pizza person.”

“I can't just sit all day on the couch and expect the weight to come off. My goals are my new focus instead of food.”

“I think that baseball as a whole, I am a huge romantic when it comes to the history and the stats and the numbers the stories behind it, so I would consider myself a pretty big fan.”

“Food to me, in one word, is 'creativity' or 'expression.' It's simply, 'This is who I am at this point in time, and this is what I want to cook for you.'”

“Dining should be something that isn't always taken extremely seriously.”

“I think that for me, growing up, my dad was in the Navy; we went all over the world. I love things the weirder the better. The idea I could eat things like snails or frogs legs or things like that was mind-blowingly cool.”

“Weight is something I've battled all my life.”

“I only wear red socks in the kitchen. They bring me luck.”

“I'm a traditionalist, so for me, black coffee is cool.”