Quotes from Michael Mina

Guests love to be 'wowed' in Las Vegas. They enjoy and embrace new tastes, new flavors, and they come to expect the unexpected in Las Vegas.

From a young age, I understood the idea of balanced flavor - the reason you put ketchup on a hamburger. I was that kid who wouldn't eat something if there was something missing. I never really understood it until I began cooking professionally, balancing acids, sweets, spicy flavors and fat.

I did want to share with you one of the greatest lessons I've learned over the years cooking for my kids - there is enormous value in bringing children into the kitchen.

I liked to screw around in the kitchen when I was a kid. But I started cooking when I was 15.

When your parents are Middle Eastern immigrants, you have three choices. You can become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer.

When restaurants start to mature - and usually the five-year time is the time when the restaurant starts to settle in and have its own personality - your job is to grow it.

I believe what makes cooking in Las Vegas different from cooking in most other cities are the guests that dine with you in Las Vegas.

When I first went to Las Vegas, I thought I would never go to Las Vegas; you can't get anything. But then I realized that they were trucking in almost everything; you could get a lot of your product, and I think that's why a lot of chefs actually went there.

When designing a kitchen, always keep in mind the social aspect.