I'm happiest walking through fields, on beaches, and over riverbanks. Nature is my surrogate mother.
— Marco Pierre White
I'm naturally an introvert.
A cookery book should be there for inspiration. Recipes should be a guideline, and they shouldn't be cast in stone.
I am not the sort of person who gives up.
Oliver Reed was a great man who did things his own way. He used to come into Harveys, my restaurant in Wandsworth, and sit on the floor to have a drink before going to the table.
Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was a lad. From then on, he lived in fear that death was just around the corner, and he set about programming me to work hard and bring in some cash.
I was brought up to respect my father and not to love him.
My twenties were the worst period of my life.
I leave my emotions at home.
I never had a drink at all till I was 38. I'm just not a drinker. I go days without drinking.
A chef's palate is born out of his childhood, and one thing all chefs have in common is a mother who can cook.
Nine out of 10 English chefs have their names on their chests. Who do they think they are? They're dreamers. They're jokes.
One day, a chef moaned that he was too hot, so I took a carving knife in one hand, held his jacket with the other, and slashed it. Then I slashed his trousers. Both garments were still on his body at the time.
You'll never see me at award ceremonies.
I think what you got to do is to create an environment which people wish to sit in. You have to create a menu which is interesting to people. You have to create food which is delicious and affordable. I think that's what's important.
The reason I do television is because we all have to work and earn a living, as I have four children. It's also a platform for me to share my knowledge and inspire the young.
For me, food is about generosity, and this should reflect on the plate as well.
People still think I led a rock and roll lifestyle. I was in my kitchen 100 hours a week; I didn't have time to do that.
My children are, without question, the most wonderful thing. I've learnt more about myself through my children than any other experience in my life.
I came from the most humble side of society, and I know what it's like to be poor, really poor, and I was brought up in the '60s and '70s very poor, and I'm very happy flying the flag for the working man.
As far as I am concerned, ambition is the most dangerous occupation in the world. I have never been ambitious, or if I have, it's only been by default.
Perhaps I created the monster Ramsay, who ended up as a TV personality screaming at celebrities on 'Hell's Kitchen,' doing to them what I had done to him.
My mother's death was the defining moment of my life.
I am a believer that if you bring children into this world, then you have a responsibility to do your best and support and guide them until the day you die.
Generally, I respect critics; they have their job to do.
I think, in life, the more you force things, they break. You just let things happen.
Oh, I love ladies in hats! One rule of restaurants: never take a hat from a lady; wait for her to offer you the hat because she might not want to take it off - she might not have had time to do her hair properly.
I think self-discovery is the greatest achievement in life, because once you discover yourself and accept what you are, then you can fulfil your true potential and be happy.
I can't work in a domestic kitchen; it's just too confined. There's no freedom, and there's no buzz.
The day I stopped fearing my father was the day I could enjoy him.
I don't like London. I'm not happy here. I don't even own a flat here.
I love gardens!
The only time I am seen in public is when I go to work. When I go home to England, I never leave my home.
I don't need Michelin, and they don't need me.
I love the countryside, which is where I live and feel most comfortable, and hate being surrounded by herds of people.
I'm a great fan of farmed products, as long as it's done properly, because it allows people to be able to afford them. If it wasn't for farmed products, a lot of people wouldn't eat so well.
Food should be simple; it shouldn't be complicated, even down to making Knorr gravy: a Knorr stock cube and water, bit of parsley at the end, little bit of olive oil. It's about making the food deliciously tasty.
You can't be a chef and appear on television all the time. It's impossible. At least when I earned my stars, I was always behind my stove.
I discovered that the world of the finest restaurants was something akin to the world of the Mafia.
When you work for someone, you never realise how much you are learning. It is only when you leave and you reflect back on life.
I was racially discriminated against for years as a child in Leeds because I was an Italian.
My pet hate, with customers, is those that think it's all about wallets.
I wouldn't want to be in one room, 20 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, with four white walls and a stove. I think it stunts your growth as a human being.
I like a nice cross section of society in my restaurants - the stars, the toffs, the working guy.
Self-control is true power.
A lot of people say I look like a rock star or a designer punk. But I swear it's the job that has carved my face. It's the hours, the stress, and the pressure. It's not me trying to look like this.
My favourite dinner is a cup of tea and a ham sandwich with English mustard.
Remember, restaurateurs are only shopkeepers; that's all we are. It's no different from the supermarket down the road.
I think Singapore is one of the great cities of the world.
All great chefs have two things in common. First, they respect nature as the true artist, and they are just cooks. Second, everything that they do is an extension of them as a person.
