"Mario Batali is the most recognized chef in a city with more chefs than any other city in the world" (Dinner with Mario, pg. 5.)

"I cubed pork for a ragu (only after my first batch was returned-'These are chunks, I asked for cubes') and learned how to trim the fat off a flank of beef" (Kitchen Slave: Chapter 1, pg. 19.)

"Po is like a teenage Babbo-thirteen tables, plus another two on the sidewalk, and a menu that borrows heavily from La Volta" (Kitchen Slave: Chapter 6, pg. 54.)

"The grill station is hell. You stand at it for five minutes and you think: So this is what Dante had in mind" (Line Cook: Chapter 9, pg. 81.)

"I learned how much I had to learn" (Line Cook: Chapter 10, pg. 105.)

"Implicit in my role, a pupil whose presence the kitchen tolerated, was that I was to be the one expressing gratitude. To be thanked-this...