40 Quotes by Toby Young

'Top Chef' is a very smooth-running machine. All the people working there are incredibly professional and absolutely at the top of their game.

America thinks of itself as a meritocracy, so people have more respect for success and more contempt for failure.

Oddly, I do have a problem with authority. I find it very difficult to knuckle down and follow rules. Which are the classic symptoms of someone who has a troubled relationship with their father. And yet, I never had a problem with my father.

The moment I'm perceived to be even a tiny bit successful, my career will go down the pan.

I expect that in 40 years' time I'll be writing political tomes and working for an organisation like Oxfam.

I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs.

There's no reason why you can't deliver a grammar-school curriculum to an all-ability intake.

I swear, I didn't really go in thinking, 'I'll be the Simon Cowell' of 'Top Chef.' I was just used to being a judge on British food shows where people are much more outspoken and rather rude. That's the culture over here.

I think I've been wishing for celebrity for so long that I've got used to being someone who's petitioning the establishment for acceptance... my whole schtick, my whole identity, is so wrapped up in being a petitioner that I don't really know how to react now that petition has been granted.