Grant Achatz

“I lived my whole life in the kitchen. Not only that, but it's the passion, it's the love for cooking and food. It's dictated my entire life - every aspect of it.”

“I had D minuses in chemistry and all of the sciences, and now I'm known as a molecular gastronomist.”

“Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art.”

“Here's the irony in what I do: When I go out to eat, I like classic French food. I like amazing Japanese food that has such a history that it goes back hundreds of years. And I also like really innovative food as well.”

“Part of becoming a little bit older and having the opportunities that I have, you want to start giving back to people who have been influential and helped you along the way.”

“My personality was always such that I always look straight forward, never behind or to the side.”

“If I had one piece of advice for people - if they are cooking from the Alinea cookbook, the Betty Crocker cookbook or the back of the box - read through the entire recipe first before reaching for any ingredients, and then read again and execute the directions.”

“Whatever it is you're doing, whether it's your career or a particular focus, if you're trying to be the best you can possibly be, then you'll be putting that pressure on yourself.”

“I always knew I wanted to be a chef.”

“The popularity of the Internet and using it as an available resource has really changed the way chefs kind of gather information and look for inspiration. To me, a food trend is potentially a lot of people following an idea.”

“I don't care if you're doing haute cuisine or burgers and pizza, just do it right.”

“I hate stuff in my pockets, can't stand it. I'll carry stuff in my hands rather than put it in my pockets.”

“To me, every kitchen appliance is useful and nothing's overrated. When I look at my little espresso machine, I don't see coffee. I see a steaming valve as an opportunity to make amazing creme brulee.”

“Anything that could ever prevent me from achieving a goal, I put in a box, tape it up, throw it over my shoulder. You aim for a goal and attain it. Then you look to the next one.”

“In a lot of ways, a lot of smells that aren't necessarily edible smell good, and they remind you of certain aspects of food. So making those associations with what smells good or smells a certain way and pairing that with actual edible ingredients is one avenue that we take creatively.”

“There are about 700 flavors that you can smell, but only five you can taste. A lot of times what you're perceiving as flavor has nothing to do with palette, but it's more to do with scents.”

“My home kitchen is airy, with a gas stove, a stainless-steel island table in the center and granite countertops. It's very modest but there's tons of counter space, so you can slap down three or four cutting boards.”

“My life has been such a blur since I was 18, 19 years old. I haven't even had time to contemplate my own life. By forcing yourself to write your life story you learn a great deal about yourself.”

“We all eat two to six times a day. Why? Because we are supposed to, we are programmed to, we want to.”

“Most smoked salts are made with liquid smoke, which is a condensate, but really, really good smoked salt is literally smoked.”