Quotes from Melissa Leong

Our favourite restaurants, cafes and eateries put a lot of thought into what they do, mostly for our pleasure. Perhaps we should consider a little more often, what we bring to this edible equation.

Not all of us were lucky enough to be born into a huge Lebanese family, where visiting relatives and being stuffed with copious amounts of pickles, hummus, felafel and kibbeh is not just a way of life but a birth right.

I have not yet had the great fortune of visiting India, but I really hope to one day. I am in love with the vibrance, diversity and energy of India.

Freshly grated nutmeg over fresh pasta with truffle oil is simple perfection. It's also integral in any good bechamel or chai mix.

I think it's important to be vulnerable and to pay attention to your emotions.

To be fair, restaurant culture has always been about bragging rights - such is the elitist nature of food. It's just that social media makes it that much easier for everyone to play the game.

When you go through things like burnout you learn what to do and what not to do in the future.

There's no point in sanitising your past. I believe everybody deserves to evolve and change their perspectives. To be human is an ongoing process.

Think of the phrase 'dining institution' as a badge of honour. One that is earned after many years, and many more hearts won.

Bangkok's street food culture may have recently been forced to clean up its act but personally, we think there's nothing better than a steaming bowl of noodles eaten within tripping distance of traffic, washed down with a cold beer, of course.

I think as a kid, you just want to be accepted by the people around you and largely I was.

I always want to celebrate inclusivity wherever I can.

For those of us who are lucky enough to not worry about where our next meal is coming from, it can be difficult to consider a life where the choice and supply of what you eat is extremely limited.

I always want to be - and appear to be - competent. When I don't achieve that, I don't respond well.

It takes a lot of guts to pull up stumps from a successful career, surrounded by the people you love.

Whether your job puts you in the public eye or not, being able to leave your work at work and come home to a different pace of life seems to me not only logical, but sustainable.

I have spent a lot of time in L.A. It's sort of like my third home - Sydney, rural Tasmania and then L.A.

Eating matzo ball soup for the first time was akin to a religious experience because of how deeply contemplative it was. It made me realise that something as simple as chicken soup - in any culture or religion, or through any perspective - can be very symbolic, nourishing and meaningful.

Singaporeans are food people, period. My first memories, let alone of food, were of sitting on the floor of the kitchen with my mother, watching her pound aromatics to make sambal and later on, learning to stuff wonton pastry.

Our shelves are groaning with the amount of cookbooks, it's scary.

I've been mentored by editors who encouraged me to be constructive and never cruel.

I like showing people I can do something they wouldn't have pegged me as being able to do. I've always wanted to defy expectations.

Everybody deserves to be seen and to be heard. Regardless of whether that is your culture, your language, who you love, your ability, or the way you chose to live your life, everybody deserves to be seen and be heard.

A reasonably new theme in the western world, Indian culture has known how to heal the body through food for thousands of years.