Top 148 Quotes & Sayings by Marco Pierre White
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a British chef Marco Pierre White.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
My grandfather, father, and uncle were chefs, and my other uncle was a butcher.
Oliver Reed was a great man who did things his own way. He used to come into Harveys, my restaurant in Wandsworth, and sit on the floor to have a drink before going to the table.
My favourite dinner is a cup of tea and a ham sandwich with English mustard.
People still think I led a rock and roll lifestyle. I was in my kitchen 100 hours a week; I didn't have time to do that.
Food should be simple; it shouldn't be complicated, even down to making Knorr gravy: a Knorr stock cube and water, bit of parsley at the end, little bit of olive oil. It's about making the food deliciously tasty.
My mind might be conservative, but at heart, I was always a socialist.
I'm naturally an introvert.
I am a believer that if you bring children into this world, then you have a responsibility to do your best and support and guide them until the day you die.
The reason I do television is because we all have to work and earn a living, as I have four children. It's also a platform for me to share my knowledge and inspire the young.
The only time I am seen in public is when I go to work. When I go home to England, I never leave my home.
Perhaps I created the monster Ramsay, who ended up as a TV personality screaming at celebrities on 'Hell's Kitchen,' doing to them what I had done to him.
My favourite dessert is tarte Tatin.
I think it's really important for every young person to work in a kitchen because you learn a life skill.
Nine out of 10 English chefs have their names on their chests. Who do they think they are? They're dreamers. They're jokes.
I think Singapore is one of the great cities of the world.
Can you imagine, I lost my mother at age six? My childhood ended then.
I came from the most humble side of society, and I know what it's like to be poor, really poor, and I was brought up in the '60s and '70s very poor, and I'm very happy flying the flag for the working man.
I don't need Michelin, and they don't need me.
I leave my emotions at home.
I love the countryside, which is where I live and feel most comfortable, and hate being surrounded by herds of people.
Generally, I respect critics; they have their job to do.
I was brought up to respect my father and not to love him.
A chef's palate is born out of his childhood, and one thing all chefs have in common is a mother who can cook.
My cooking attracted celebrities. I met Sylvester Stallone. He squeezed my bicep and said: 'I don't usually eat your kind of food, but for you, I ate it.' I haven't got a clue what he'd eaten but he asked me to cook for his wedding feast when he married Jennifer Flavin at Blenheim Palace.
Once you accept and understand yourself, you do things for the right reasons, not the wrong ones, rather than being fuelled by your insecurities.
I think self-discovery is the greatest achievement in life, because once you discover yourself and accept what you are, then you can fulfil your true potential and be happy.
I never had a drink at all till I was 38. I'm just not a drinker. I go days without drinking.
I think, in life, the more you force things, they break. You just let things happen.
As far as I am concerned, ambition is the most dangerous occupation in the world. I have never been ambitious, or if I have, it's only been by default.
My twenties were the worst period of my life.
For me, food is about generosity, and this should reflect on the plate as well.
Harveys opened against the backdrop of Thatcher's greed culture.
I just can't stand Tony Blair.
You'll never see me at award ceremonies.
Buy locally where possible, but if you can't get the very best locally, don't buy locally. Buy it from where it is best.
I wouldn't want to be in one room, 20 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, with four white walls and a stove. I think it stunts your growth as a human being.
The food wasn't very good in the first kitchen I ever worked in. But it was very busy, so I learnt to be fast, absorb pressure, use a knife, and say, 'Yes, chef.'
Life is an emotional rollercoaster. It really is.
I think what you got to do is to create an environment which people wish to sit in. You have to create a menu which is interesting to people. You have to create food which is delicious and affordable. I think that's what's important.
Cuisine Nouvelle was just a concept, and one which, crucially, the English managed to get wrong. I mean, if you run a restaurant, you've got to feed people, not make pretty little pictures on plates to make up for your lack of ability.
I like a nice cross section of society in my restaurants - the stars, the toffs, the working guy.
I was racially discriminated against for years as a child in Leeds because I was an Italian.
Oh, I love ladies in hats! One rule of restaurants: never take a hat from a lady; wait for her to offer you the hat because she might not want to take it off - she might not have had time to do her hair properly.
A lot of people say I look like a rock star or a designer punk. But I swear it's the job that has carved my face. It's the hours, the stress, and the pressure. It's not me trying to look like this.
All great chefs have two things in common. First, they respect nature as the true artist, and they are just cooks. Second, everything that they do is an extension of them as a person.
Self-control is true power.
My mother's death was the defining moment of my life.
Good people are always forgiving. They close an eye to one's failings.
Remember, restaurateurs are only shopkeepers; that's all we are. It's no different from the supermarket down the road.
Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was a lad. From then on, he lived in fear that death was just around the corner, and he set about programming me to work hard and bring in some cash.
I don't like London. I'm not happy here. I don't even own a flat here.
Just because something is English does not necessarily mean it is good. We make the best cheddar; we make great pasties. But we can't make very good brie or baguettes - and the French can't make pork pies.
We all make mistakes. God knows I've made more than anyone else I know.
Rudeness is not having fun, and if it is, it's at the expense of another person.
The day I stopped fearing my father was the day I could enjoy him.
Cooking is a philosophy; it's not a recipe.
One day, a chef moaned that he was too hot, so I took a carving knife in one hand, held his jacket with the other, and slashed it. Then I slashed his trousers. Both garments were still on his body at the time.
I can't work in a domestic kitchen; it's just too confined. There's no freedom, and there's no buzz.
My pet hate, with customers, is those that think it's all about wallets.
I love gardens!
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