I work out to eat.

Nobody believed the ‘Food Network’ could last. Even I was short sighted and thought to myself, 24 hours of food on TV? They’ll run out of things to talk about in four days! But that wasn’t true. ‘Food Network’ continues to get better and evolve.

I spend 80% of my time in my restaurants. Taping my TV shows doesn’t take much time, and then they get aired a lot. That’s the thing people don’t realize.

I can’t be on the cheeseburger diet all the time.

I live in New York and I’m in New York basically all the time. I spend a lot of my time in my restaurants, and I feel like that’s why they’re successful.

I think a lot of times people design restaurants with flash in mind. I think you should design restaurants with function in mind. Make sure it’s functional and works with what you’re trying to accomplish. Design can come later.

I love working with big flavors like chiles and smoke. Honey is perfect for softening the edges, mellowing them out a bit. I put it in everything – vinaigrettes, soups, stocks, salsas, so I’m always on the hunt for great honey.

In the end, your creativity – perhaps even your outrageousness – will determine the final result.

One of the things that happens in my house on the holidays is after dessert, we sit down to a very ambitious men-versus-women game of Trivial Pursuit. It’s brutal. And there’s a trophy.

Obviously, the easiest recipes are the most successful when it comes to the home cook, because they’re not intimidated by them. If I’m doing ‘Boy Meets Grill,’ and I do something very simple like grilled hamburgers or steaks or chicken, those are the most sought-after recipes.