Quotes from Geoffrey Zakarian

If we have meetings, I try to schedule the meetings at different restaurants I want to try - so I always suggest the restaurants.

When I step into the kitchen in the morning, I go for the scrambled eggs with pine nuts and minced lamb. When I finish at night, it is hard to resist the burger.

I always request a king-size bed, and if I can't, I try to work that out right after I land. I unpack immediately so the clothes don't get wrinkled. I go the gym. I adjust the temperature; I like the room kind of warm. And then turn on CNBC.

Comfort food is really anything you want at that time. That said, I really love Naple-style pizza.

I've never missed a flight. And I don't see any reason in cutting it close because airports are pleasurable for me: You can go to the restaurant, get a massage, browse books, sit at a bar, check emails.

I'm the culinary and creative consultant for The Water Club.

Undercook swordfish, and you get rubber. Overcook it, and you lose the fat and succulence.

The most important things in life happen over conversations while eating.

Days off are few and far between in the restaurant business. But on an hour off, I like to have a glass of wine with my wife.

Confit is not something that comes to mind for summer. Usually it means duck confit, made by cooking the legs and thighs in duck fat to preserve them for winter.

Cooking a piece of fish and cooking it right. Knowing the fish, knowing the properties of the fish. That's a hard thing to do rather than covering it with a lot of sauces and foams or other cooking methods that might be high wire acts and look good on the outside.

I use the confit principle for chicken thighs. I season them with herbs and garlic, let them marinate, and then cook them in chicken fat.

I've been working in boutique hotels my whole life.

Chestnuts are my favorite ingredient to use in the fall, especially for the holidays. I always find that they are meaty, hearty and have a mysterious refinement when cooked or roasted over sea salt.

I love hotel rooms, so I take pictures of the room and the way out and the lobby, the food and drink.

There's a point of no return when you're cooking tomatoes. A little too much heat, a little too long in the pot, and you lose that sense of fresh ripeness that makes tomatoes so great.

It's important to salt the tomatoes before draining them because that helps pull out the water. Fresh herbs, some garlic and pepper will also enhance the flavor.

If you cook chopped tomatoes with all of their juices, it takes a long time for the sauce to reach the right consistency. By then, the freshness is gone.

Shows like 'Top Chef,' 'Hell's Kitchen' have helped bring attention to the culinary world on a whole, but you have to be cautious it doesn't get out of hand.

When you have a chef that wants to be in the spotlight, maybe after one or two appearances on a show, they think they're at a certain level that they haven't reached yet in the kitchen. Shows like 'Top Chef', 'Hell's Kitchen' have helped bring attention to the culinary world.

I do not believe in eating fish hot. People always insist on hot fish, but that leaves it dried out.

I still have the 'New York Post' delivered because it's so garrulous and nasty and wonderful when you read it in print. Some things just don't translate online.

I love hospitality, and I love cooking. The kitchen is where I feel most at ease and where I feel most like myself.

I like tuna when there's a definite streak of deep pink in the middle, medium rare so to speak, and it comes out best when it's not cut too thick.