[Music]
the open to experience be willing to try
new things don’t have a rigid plan
accept random acts of hospitality
without judgment or fear don’t be afraid
to wander don’t be afraid to eat a bad
meal you know if you don’t risk the bad
meal you’ll never get the magical one
but are they most important you know be
humble be grateful be aware of the fact
that you were probably the stupidest
person in the room as far as you were
the least prepared at least equipped
person to know who’s really in charge of
what’s really going on I think I made of
maybe before I started traveling I
thought that the human race as a whole
or you know good it would turn on itself
at any moment you know venal petty cruel
arbitrary and it’s truly all of those
things exist in this world but I need
mostly pretty nice people doing the best
they can often under very very difficult
conditions I met a lot of very nice
people who’ve done very very bad things
that conflict with my deeply held
conceptions of justice sexual equality
or acceptable practice or we just use a
lot of gray areas and travel but I think
that on balance the world is filled with
people doing the best they can you know
who love their kids and you know would
like to you know put on a clean shirt
every morning and live their lives in
the little dignity and have access to
food and water hope just like everybody
else uninhibited creative freedom is
something that I’ve been incredibly
fortunate to have for the better part of
my entire television career unlike
anyone else I know of in television I’ve
been free to do whatever I want to make
the shows I want anywhere I want with
whom I want in any style I want so I at
first I don’t know any other way and by
now I won’t have it any other way
life is good why settle for Less and by
the same token when you’re given that
much freedom and you’re you you have
essentially no interference and nothing
but support behind you what you don’t
want to do is get lazy and bored and
sloppy to me I’d much rather not make TV
at all or make even unsuccessful TV then
make competent television you know
it’s very easy to make a conventional
travel or food show at this point it’s
it’s like shooting corn it’s the same
shot sequence and the same sort of
limited terminology you know how all of
their little pieces work where you have
to start and where you have to end I
detest competent workmen like
storytelling and I’m always very you
know the times that we we do that I’m
very unhappy with that I’d rather I’d
rather fail well I’ve been fired many
times by in my cooking career I’ve been
fired a number of times I was not a
particularly good chef I had a lot of
problems at various points in my career
with narcotics
I was very deservedly fired on a number
of occasions but I mean if you’re
talking about failure though you know I
accepted failure as a chef because I was
at various times a bad chef and even a
bad person these days if I fail it’s
because I tried to do something and did
not succeed or I I just was not able to
do
what I hope to do or wanted to do or
maybe I tried to do something that is
clearly in retrospect didn’t work but I
would much rather than that I would much
rather fail gloriously than not venture
not try I’m not in as I said before I’m
not interested in incompetent making
telling telling stories with with
competence I’m looking to tell them with
some style and originality and some
creativity that is interesting to me and
the people I work with and there have
been times that that that has resulted
in in failure meaning it didn’t work
didn’t communicate anything like what I
wanted too often the story I think I’m
gonna get ends up being another story
entirely that’s even better
or very different that’s good but there
are other times ready to fail miserable
you know I tried to do with Sicily shell
again and it was not good did not
capture the place it did not didn’t show
us anything of value it did not live up
to its the subtlety and beauty of its
subject and then there were there are
shows where you know some people are
just gonna hate it they just don’t like
the style they think it’s self-indulgent
they don’t get it but that’s kind of
failure I like you know
a powerful reaction one way or the other
infinitely preferable to me than
pleasing everybody if ever if I walk in
a room where everybody agrees with me
I find that frightening and dismayed and
boring is my answer that
question stems my history is an addict a
lot of other addicts looked in the
mirror everyday and did not see somebody
worth saving even at my worst there was
a level of vanity I guess I look in the
mirror and saw somebody who somebody
deep in there regardless of how low I
was my circumstances I had a high enough
opinion of myself that I thought it’s
worth going forward I think a lot of
people in a similar situation for
whatever reason look in the mirror and
see somebody that unworthy of
things and allow themselves or excuse a
downward spiral because they don’t
really believe in their basic work I did
you know so that’s vanity I think it’s
the same drive that allows me to tell
stories in books and on TV because let’s
face it anybody who writes a book or
goes on TV with the notion that they
have a story worth telling that people
might want to listen to
you’re really already by definition now
a sort of an aberrant personality and a
monster of self regard this is a very a
reasonable attitude I have a unique I
have a story that you will want to
listen to for ten minutes
why would any reasonable I mean I might
make a living doing that some you might
even want to pay for that story to the
point that I could make a living doing
that rather than washing dishes or
preparing meals that’s not normal
that takes something and I don’t know
whether that’s you know that’s often a
very much at odds with with you know
being a functioning well-rounded good
person in the conventional sense that
kind of vanity narcissism self regard
self-importance and and cheerful
willingness to examine your and share
your feelings you know I think Brad
Leibovitz said at one point you know you
know if you’re if you’re sharing your
feelings you know that’s not sharing
when that book came out it was
immediately a best-seller and it changed
my life overnight overnight I mean I was
desperately in debt hadn’t paid my rent
in time ever owed had owed Amex for ten
years without making a single payment
owed the IRS hadn’t even filed it was in
very very very insecure place at age 44
suddenly people were offering me things
and offering me opportunities and I
I was old enough and I up enough
already that I just said you know I
realized this is a lucky break was a lot
unlikely to get another so I’d be very
careful choices in that environment was
very determined to not up I didn’t
go for easy money I didn’t grab the
first thing I did not give Food Network
the show they wanted and I said no a lot
to what seemed like a lot of money well
look what’s good for you in the short
run is not necessarily good for you in a
long run you know you’re starting out as
a writer you’ve written one book and
somebody you got a TV show and somebody
offers you a million dollars to you know
represent that anti-diarrhea medication
well that’s a lot of money in the short
run but you’re always gonna be that guy
with the shits
I’ve admittedly I have very
contradictory impulses here I’m I’m old
school in a lot of ways I think you
should at least know how to make a beef
bourguignon correctly according to the
original recipe to the degree that
anything can be authentic you should
know how to you know some dishes to me
like cacio e pepe or you know
traditional Italian pastas I get really
pissy of people riff on them you know
you put chicken in a carbonara
you lost me it’s unforgivable sin
against God but on the other hand you
you know they’re guys that came out of
blues and R&B who turned out to be Jimi
Hendrix you know there are people who
can riff on and improvise on classics
and create whole new wonderful worlds
and what is authentic is mostly
meaningless any Lennon it the tomato is
not authentic Italian and it came from
the new world of Chinese food is always
evolving so it’s protective and
instinctively hostile to new as I can be
I know too many really creative chefs
and I understand the changing world is
it pleasurable I guess is the benchmark
for me if you’re gonna mess with a
classic are you making something more
dazzling that says look at me and how
smart I am or are you in some way
improving it is it pleasurable is it
chicken Caesar more pleasurable than a
plain Caesar I think not I think the
chicken takes away but that’s my opinion
I’m relentlessly pathologically a
punctual I think I think that comes from
all those years as a chef that is a more
importantly as a cook you know can you
showed up late as a cook you’re letting
your people down in a very tangible way
somebody else has to physically do the
work do the setup or you lose the shift
or you get fired as a chef cooks who
showed up late who were disorganized and
couldn’t keep a lot of stuff going on in
their heads they failed and when they
fell we all went down with them so I am
a relentlessly you know impossibly
unhealthily you know anal-retentive of
you know obsessive-compulsive you know
clean up after my oh and I’m cooking I’m
cleaning up after myself constantly keep
things organized
I write lists I keep my schedule
up-to-date I am never late and as part
of that if I say to you I’m gonna meet
you tomorrow at you know 12 minutes
after 5:00 to see John wick 7:00
I will be there at you know 5:02 hanging
out across the street
discreetly observing the scene what time
you show up and I’ll be making some very
important decisions based on your
arrival time it’s a curse and a blessing
but I think everything important I ever
learned I learned I learned as a is that
as a dishwasher when there’s a cook you
show up on time you organize you get you
well you know you stay organized and
clean up after yourself you think about
the people you work with you respect the
people you work with and like I said you do the best you can
the open to experience be willing to try
new things don’t have a rigid plan
accept random acts of hospitality
without judgment or fear don’t be afraid
to wander don’t be afraid to eat a bad
meal you know if you don’t risk the bad
meal you’ll never get the magical one
but are they most important you know be
humble be grateful be aware of the fact
that you were probably the stupidest
person in the room as far as you were
the least prepared at least equipped
person to know who’s really in charge of
what’s really going on I think I made of
maybe before I started traveling I
thought that the human race as a whole
or you know good it would turn on itself
at any moment you know venal petty cruel
arbitrary and it’s truly all of those
things exist in this world but I need
mostly pretty nice people doing the best
they can often under very very difficult
conditions I met a lot of very nice
people who’ve done very very bad things
that conflict with my deeply held
conceptions of justice sexual equality
or acceptable practice or we just use a
lot of gray areas and travel but I think
that on balance the world is filled with
people doing the best they can you know
who love their kids and you know would
like to you know put on a clean shirt
every morning and live their lives in
the little dignity and have access to
food and water hope just like everybody
else uninhibited creative freedom is
something that I’ve been incredibly
fortunate to have for the better part of
my entire television career unlike
anyone else I know of in television I’ve
been free to do whatever I want to make
the shows I want anywhere I want with
whom I want in any style I want so I at
first I don’t know any other way and by
now I won’t have it any other way
life is good why settle for Less and by
the same token when you’re given that
much freedom and you’re you you have
essentially no interference and nothing
but support behind you what you don’t
want to do is get lazy and bored and
sloppy to me I’d much rather not make TV
at all or make even unsuccessful TV then
make competent television you know
it’s very easy to make a conventional
travel or food show at this point it’s
it’s like shooting corn it’s the same
shot sequence and the same sort of
limited terminology you know how all of
their little pieces work where you have
to start and where you have to end I
detest competent workmen like
storytelling and I’m always very you
know the times that we we do that I’m
very unhappy with that I’d rather I’d
rather fail well I’ve been fired many
times by in my cooking career I’ve been
fired a number of times I was not a
particularly good chef I had a lot of
problems at various points in my career
with narcotics
I was very deservedly fired on a number
of occasions but I mean if you’re
talking about failure though you know I
accepted failure as a chef because I was
at various times a bad chef and even a
bad person these days if I fail it’s
because I tried to do something and did
not succeed or I I just was not able to
do
what I hope to do or wanted to do or
maybe I tried to do something that is
clearly in retrospect didn’t work but I
would much rather than that I would much
rather fail gloriously than not venture
not try I’m not in as I said before I’m
not interested in incompetent making
telling telling stories with with
competence I’m looking to tell them with
some style and originality and some
creativity that is interesting to me and
the people I work with and there have
been times that that that has resulted
in in failure meaning it didn’t work
didn’t communicate anything like what I
wanted too often the story I think I’m
gonna get ends up being another story
entirely that’s even better
or very different that’s good but there
are other times ready to fail miserable
you know I tried to do with Sicily shell
again and it was not good did not
capture the place it did not didn’t show
us anything of value it did not live up
to its the subtlety and beauty of its
subject and then there were there are
shows where you know some people are
just gonna hate it they just don’t like
the style they think it’s self-indulgent
they don’t get it but that’s kind of
failure I like you know
a powerful reaction one way or the other
infinitely preferable to me than
pleasing everybody if ever if I walk in
a room where everybody agrees with me
I find that frightening and dismayed and
boring is my answer that
question stems my history is an addict a
lot of other addicts looked in the
mirror everyday and did not see somebody
worth saving even at my worst there was
a level of vanity I guess I look in the
mirror and saw somebody who somebody
deep in there regardless of how low I
was my circumstances I had a high enough
opinion of myself that I thought it’s
worth going forward I think a lot of
people in a similar situation for
whatever reason look in the mirror and
see somebody that unworthy of
things and allow themselves or excuse a
downward spiral because they don’t
really believe in their basic work I did
you know so that’s vanity I think it’s
the same drive that allows me to tell
stories in books and on TV because let’s
face it anybody who writes a book or
goes on TV with the notion that they
have a story worth telling that people
might want to listen to
you’re really already by definition now
a sort of an aberrant personality and a
monster of self regard this is a very a
reasonable attitude I have a unique I
have a story that you will want to
listen to for ten minutes
why would any reasonable I mean I might
make a living doing that some you might
even want to pay for that story to the
point that I could make a living doing
that rather than washing dishes or
preparing meals that’s not normal
that takes something and I don’t know
whether that’s you know that’s often a
very much at odds with with you know
being a functioning well-rounded good
person in the conventional sense that
kind of vanity narcissism self regard
self-importance and and cheerful
willingness to examine your and share
your feelings you know I think Brad
Leibovitz said at one point you know you
know if you’re if you’re sharing your
feelings you know that’s not sharing
when that book came out it was
immediately a best-seller and it changed
my life overnight overnight I mean I was
desperately in debt hadn’t paid my rent
in time ever owed had owed Amex for ten
years without making a single payment
owed the IRS hadn’t even filed it was in
very very very insecure place at age 44
suddenly people were offering me things
and offering me opportunities and I
I was old enough and I up enough
already that I just said you know I
realized this is a lucky break was a lot
unlikely to get another so I’d be very
careful choices in that environment was
very determined to not up I didn’t
go for easy money I didn’t grab the
first thing I did not give Food Network
the show they wanted and I said no a lot
to what seemed like a lot of money well
look what’s good for you in the short
run is not necessarily good for you in a
long run you know you’re starting out as
a writer you’ve written one book and
somebody you got a TV show and somebody
offers you a million dollars to you know
represent that anti-diarrhea medication
well that’s a lot of money in the short
run but you’re always gonna be that guy
with the shits
I’ve admittedly I have very
contradictory impulses here I’m I’m old
school in a lot of ways I think you
should at least know how to make a beef
bourguignon correctly according to the
original recipe to the degree that
anything can be authentic you should
know how to you know some dishes to me
like cacio e pepe or you know
traditional Italian pastas I get really
pissy of people riff on them you know
you put chicken in a carbonara
you lost me it’s unforgivable sin
against God but on the other hand you
you know they’re guys that came out of
blues and R&B who turned out to be Jimi
Hendrix you know there are people who
can riff on and improvise on classics
and create whole new wonderful worlds
and what is authentic is mostly
meaningless any Lennon it the tomato is
not authentic Italian and it came from
the new world of Chinese food is always
evolving so it’s protective and
instinctively hostile to new as I can be
I know too many really creative chefs
and I understand the changing world is
it pleasurable I guess is the benchmark
for me if you’re gonna mess with a
classic are you making something more
dazzling that says look at me and how
smart I am or are you in some way
improving it is it pleasurable is it
chicken Caesar more pleasurable than a
plain Caesar I think not I think the
chicken takes away but that’s my opinion
I’m relentlessly pathologically a
punctual I think I think that comes from
all those years as a chef that is a more
importantly as a cook you know can you
showed up late as a cook you’re letting
your people down in a very tangible way
somebody else has to physically do the
work do the setup or you lose the shift
or you get fired as a chef cooks who
showed up late who were disorganized and
couldn’t keep a lot of stuff going on in
their heads they failed and when they
fell we all went down with them so I am
a relentlessly you know impossibly
unhealthily you know anal-retentive of
you know obsessive-compulsive you know
clean up after my oh and I’m cooking I’m
cleaning up after myself constantly keep
things organized
I write lists I keep my schedule
up-to-date I am never late and as part
of that if I say to you I’m gonna meet
you tomorrow at you know 12 minutes
after 5:00 to see John wick 7:00
I will be there at you know 5:02 hanging
out across the street
discreetly observing the scene what time
you show up and I’ll be making some very
important decisions based on your
arrival time it’s a curse and a blessing
but I think everything important I ever
learned I learned I learned as a is that
as a dishwasher when there’s a cook you
show up on time you organize you get you
well you know you stay organized and
clean up after yourself you think about
the people you work with you respect the
people you work with and like I said you do the best you can
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