When I Was A Kid,

Don't Expect Too Much From Yourself. What I Like To Do When I Have A Day Off Is Make Various Cookie Doughs And Freeze Them. Then I Always Have That On Hand If I Need It.

Talking To Other People While You're Cooking, It Doesn't Come Naturally.

I'm Not Just A Female Chef. I'm A Woman In A Brand New Hotel, And That's Why I Think It's So Perfect To Be At The Cromwell, In A Corner Of One Of The Busiest Intersections Of The World, With My Name In Lights. It's Different In All Those Sorts Of Ways, And I'm Hoping I'll Be Able To Carry That Through. Because If I Can't, It's A Step Back For Women In General. People Will Say - Men Will Say - "see, That's Why It's Mostly Men".

These Days It's Cool To Be Ethnic And To Be Different, But When I Was A Kid, It Was Not Cool - At All. My Friends Would Come Over And My Mom Would Make Crepes With Eggs, Stuffed With Mozzarella Cheese, Tomatoes And Spinach. And They'd Be Like, 'what Is This?'

I Write Everything Down. I E-mail The Second I Think Of Something, Or I Write Notes In My Blackberry Calendar. I Set Up Reminder Alerts On My Phone. And I Have A Notebook By My Bedside So I Can Write Down Any Last-minute Ideas.