I think that lunch is one of the most enjoyable and important things in the day. But you need to create the space and the time to do just that. And in Italy, we do that.

We had our wheat. We made our own olive oil. We made our wine. We had chickens, ducks; we had sheep, cows, milk. So I was raised in a very simple situation but understanding really food from the ground... the essence of food and the flavors. And those memories I took with me, and I think that they lingered on.

I am the perfect example that if you give somebody a chance, especially here in the United States, one can find the way.

The food of a country is my story. It is a small story, but people relate so much to it. I want to share that, but also the idea of bringing people and family together.

I had my first child at 21, my first restaurant at 24.

Nature recharges me.

Cooking is about the ingredients and responding, but risotto, specifically, is about the technique.

Italy is so influenced by others: couscous in the south, cinnamon in the north because of the Venetian spice trade - I just want to divulge as much information as I can.

I'm simple in my approach and straightforward. I connect with the average person that is interested in food.

I cooked for the two Popes that were here. Pope Francis I cooked for and Pope Benedict before him. Pope Benedict is German. And I did a little research - his mother was a chef.

I develop trust, and I think it's the most important to my growth. If my restaurants are always full and my books sell, it's this trust.

There's a great need to convene at the table with family and friends. People are feeling it and wanting it. For me to be a minor player in helping with that, it makes me so happy.

I cherish my beautiful Italian heritage.

I love telling stories. You know why I love it? Because people love listening.

Physically, women have some challenges in the kitchen, like lifting heavy pots on and off the stove. You learn to adapt; you learn to find a way. But the biggest challenge for women in this industry is how to balance a family with such a demanding career.

Food is all about the story of a people through the ages.

The filming happens in my home, and I cook like I do at home, on my home stove with my house pots and so on. That's who I am. I am very true to my real profile.

The best things - when I really feel that I'm communicating, and when I really feel that people are getting it - are simple, straightforward recipes. I think simple is the hardest to achieve because you don't have all those elements to hide behind.

Eating is something we all have to do. When we sit down at the table, we nurture ourselves, and hence, all our resistance goes away. We are open to receiving good and taking it in with gusto and pleasure.

When you are the host, you have to take the party into your hands like a conductor.

There is a history to Italian food that goes back thousands of years, and there's a basic value of respecting food. America is young and doesn't have that.

My grandmother had a courtyard of animals, like goats and chickens. She made ricotta cheese, cooked with potatoes warm from the garden, grew everything from beans to wheat. It was simple, seasonal food, and we all ate what was produced 10 miles from where we lived. It was that way for centuries.

Telling my grandchildren stories of my growing up is some of our favorite times spent together. They want to know what it was like and what I did as a child. They seem to be especially interested in the organic and simplistic setting I grew up in.

I started in the restaurant industry when I was 22, so I've had quite a long tenure, if you will.