Quotes from Ted Allen

Jay Leno is not a guy who likes change. He eats the same food every day.

When I come home from a shoot, I'd rather reheat food I've made than eat takeout.

However, I was a restaurant critic at Chicago magazine before I worked at Esquire, and I've been a really enthusiastic home cook for a long time. It's just something I'm passionate about.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a form of service journalism. To be successful, I think it has to be a combination of a good story, it has to be funny, and it also needs to be packed with useful information.

Believe me, I understand the need for easy and speedy. After a 12-hour day of shooting 'Chopped ' say, I'm talking stir-fry, spaghetti, heck, peanut-butter sandwiches. But that's not about the joy of food. That's survival.

The funny thing about Thanksgiving ,or any big meal, is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it then go home and cook,chop,braise and blanch. Then it's gone in 20 minutes and everybody lies around sortof in a sugar coma and then it takes 4 hours to clean it up.

I am much more interested in the process than results.

If I have committed any culinary atrocities, please forgive me.

Sure, I love hearing the expression "Bon appétit!" But the two words I like even better: "Let's cook!

I think that curiosity happened on these reviews where I was just a guest of the reviewer, because it introduced me to new cuisines and to the idea of cooking as a mechanism for studying other cultures and understanding other parts of the world.

For me, the kitchen is the most special room in the house. It's a place for adventure - not drudgery, but discovery, sharing and showing off with friends, trying new ideas.

The great mystery to me is how restaurant critics think they can get away with doing their job without anybody noticing who they are.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a form of service journalism. To be successful, I think it has to be a combination of a good story, it has to be funny, and it also needs to be packed with useful information.

I had a really good time with Martha Stewart, who also is somebody I really admire a lot. I've learned a lot from her and I think all of America has, about attention to detail and using fresh ingredients and making things beautiful and special.

Because the show is popular, people do recognize us on the streets.

My whole problem is that all of my favorite things at Thanksgiving are the starches, and everyone is trying to go low-carb this year, even a green vegetable has carbs in it.

In recent years, I've been writing because I'm fortunate enough to work in the world of food television, to travel and taste and learn about cooking from the best chefs in the business.

The best way to learn is live, in person, cooking, feeling, smelling and tasting, but TV is the second-best thing to that; it's a halfway facsimile.

Two words to improve any dish. Ba, Con

Cooking for people is an enormously significant expression of generosity and soulfulness.

When I come home from a shoot, I'd rather reheat food I've made than eat takeout.

Jay Leno is not a guy who likes change. He eats the same food every day.

I went in saying I wanted to be the food guy.