You can't do a good deal with bad people, and you can't do a bad deal with good people. I often use that as my compass.
— Christina Tosi
I originally went to school for engineering because I loved math and thought I liked science.
Nike Air Zooms are what I usually run in. In the kitchen, I wear a beaten-up pair of Converse All-Stars in winter and Keds in summer.
Why not question what can or can't be a layer in layer cake?
I took a Chinatown bus to New York to enroll in the International Culinary Center's pastry program.
Good food is good food. It doesn't have to come with pretense.
Nothing could be lovelier than running across the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the fog.
When I get up early, I appreciate the quiet time to enjoy a coffee or water my plants.
Being humble is one of the most important things, and not being afraid to put yourself out there is important. I think really successful chefs put themselves out there on a daily basis.
I think sharing recipes is such an important part of baking and the baking world.
I didn't want a desk job; I knew I'd get bored.
Both of my parents worked incredibly hard, and eating out was a treat.
When you open any kind of food service establishment, you do all this planning, but it's not until you've opened the door and people are inside that you learn what people want you to be to them.
As a boss, as a CEO, as a creative director, as a chef, I've learned that failure will always come. I've learned to give it a big squeeze, smile at it, humble myself to it and then use it as a springboard to send me on my way to strength, success, and fulfillment.
Failure gets a bad rap, but I'd like to change that. Failure is necessary. Let it in. Chew it up, and use it as fuel for your soul.
I love to jump around, bounce around, and be active, which is one of the other reasons I decided to pursue a career in the kitchen. I work 12-18 hours a day, and most of it is spent doing just that - jumping, bouncing, and baking.
There is no right or wrong way to pair or prepare a dessert. Follow your instincts, edit, and taste-tweak-taste until you get it just right!
When I first opened Milk Bar, I was also making desserts for the Momofuku restaurants. I will say that by day three or day four, I realized that operating a bakery was so different from operating a restaurant.
Whenever I get in a car and I'm going to or from the airport or the train station, I put on a TED Talk using the TED app. It makes the trip go by super fast, and it fills my sails.
I live and die by my SodaStream. I love sparkling water. When you're eating all the time, the bubbles are nice to help settle your stomach.
I went to culinary school to eat.
I never saw the light of day at Bouley. I remember I would bring home a roll of toilet paper a week because we got paid so little, if at all.
I need healthy options around, or else if I get hungry, I'll go straight for a cookie.
Running shouldn't feel like a punishment or an obligation. It should be a treat.
A bright lipstick is a quick way to glam up my look.
I could never really decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, and for a while, I thought that maybe I wanted to be a writer... I've always loved to write, that form of expression.
I think the cereal milk is my most proud achievement.
I was raised by a gaggle of women who all loved to bake. Dessert always existed after any savory meal. I was raised with cookies on the plate, brownies in a Tupperware container, and so on.
I love checking out aspiring bakers' offerings at local farmers' markets when the weather is nice.
The secret to having an epically beloved bakery is consistency.
My first season of 'MasterChef' was tricky. I took a risk going into TV. I was confident it was the right risk and confident I'd break down barriers as the first female judge - and one that was previously only known for the sweeter side of the kitchen.
I don't watch what I eat, because the concept seems exhausting to me.
At first, learning to bake was purely selfish, but I quickly learned I can't eat every batch of cookies myself, so I would bake and eat what I wanted and give the rest away. I fell in love with feeding others as much as I loved eating sweets myself.
Be your own biggest critic. Don't let someone else beat you to constructive criticism.
Every time I baked cookies for people as a kid, it made me so happy. But when I was in culinary school and working in fine-dining restaurants, that was not a thing.
I was raised by my Depression-era grandma who taught me to use what you've got: Waste not, want not!
Simple syrup doesn't taste like anything.
When I was about to graduate, I asked myself, 'What could you do every day and never get sick of?' My answer was really simple: Make cookies.
I went to college, and I didn't want to be in a sorority, so I started working in restaurants. In my mind, that was my social outlet.
Nothing feels better then to sit down on a six-hour flight with tired muscles from a workout.
Simple jewelry is best - bigger pieces get in the way when I'm baking.
I feel like a million bucks when I get to work and I've already exercised.
The 'Momofuku Milk Bar' cookbook is rather technical. I wanted it to feel like you were walking into the doors of our kitchen, it was your first day at work, and we were going to teach you everything.
When I'm going to do something, I go all in.
Most of my memories are of softball games in Falls Church with my sister, yard sales across town on the weekends with my grandma, grocery-shopping and errand-running with my mom, learning to drive an old Volkswagen bug down Old Keene Mill Road with my dad.
The hardest thing to do is dig deep and be patient about the things you're going to learn month to month and quarter to quarter.
Inspiration is one thing. Stealing is another.
It's that strength of the human spirit, the strength of what's deep down in you, that's really going to get you anywhere and everywhere.
I love feeling exhausted after a good, hard, honest day's work.
I make a huge batch of cinnamon buns on Christmas Eve and bake them off early Christmas morning.
