Joel Robuchon

“There is no such thing as the perfect meal; one can always do better.”

“Vegas represents the idea of America I had as a kid. The big cars, the pretty girls; everything is possible in Vegas.”

“My role as a chef is respecting the produce. Why should I change and mask the original flavors of the produce that I'm utilizing?”

“If you are killing a chicken and cooking a chicken, it has to taste like chicken. Veal has to taste like veal. You have to be able to identify what you're eating. One of my worst experiences is when I can't tell what I'm eating. It is a waste.”

“In France, we have a geographic situation that is very exceptional, and it creates produce that is completely exceptional.”

“From the age of 15 to 50, I'd hardly stepped out of a kitchen. I just wanted to live a little, to spend time with my wife and children. The first time I saw snow was when I was 50, because I'd never had the time before.”

“I like a well-roasted rotisserie chicken and eggs cooked various ways, like sunny-side up or scrambled. It's comfort food for me.”

“I'm open to starting restaurants anywhere as long as the produce that's readily available is high quality. For example, I'm never doing a restaurant in Shanghai because I saw the produce available there, and it's just not good. I won't do a restaurant in Moscow for the same reason.”

“Creating deluxe cuisine is like playing a sport. Always competitive. Always challenging. And if you slow down a bit, you can no longer return to the top level.”

“I highly doubt that many people are as organized as me.”

“I'm too lazy to work out.”

“Sushi is taking over the world. It's like pizza: you can get it everywhere.”

“Cooking is chemistry, really.”

“I never try to marry more than three flavors in one dish.”

“I travel a lot. If you look at my suitcase, everything is extremely well-packed and well-folded; people who travel with me are impressed at how organized I am. Some would refer to me as a maniac for this.”

“One should eat cumin every day!”

“When I was 13, I entered the seminary in the hope of becoming a priest. But I often found myself helping the nuns in the kitchen and thus discovered my passion for cooking. I began to cultivate my skills and aspirations at the age of 15, when I embarked on my first apprenticeship.”

“I am very honored for all the distinctions and accolades, but what I am most sensitive to is my clientele and the fact they are pleased with my food and my restaurants.”

“My cooking philosophy, what I try to do, is to make a cuisine where the produce and the product shines, compared to some current trends that are maybe more adding additional things, like molecular cuisine, with a lot of additives and chemicals, which are now showing that they could be bad for your health.”

“In Europe, you can sit out and sit in the sun, and you get a very golden tan. The tan you get in Las Vegas is a darker tan, and it's not the same.”