The day I stopped fearing my father was the day I could enjoy him.
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.
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 like a nice cross section of society in my restaurants - the stars, the toffs, the working guy.
My pet hate, with customers, is those that think it's all about wallets.
My twenties were the worst period of my life.
I was racially discriminated against for years as a child in Leeds because I was an Italian.
I was brought up to respect my father and not to love him.
When you work for someone, you never realise how much you are learning. It is only when you leave and you reflect back on life.
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 discovered that the world of the finest restaurants was something akin to the world of the Mafia.
You can't be a chef and appear on television all the time. It's impossible. At least when I earned my stars, I was always behind my stove.
I am not the sort of person who gives up.
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.
A cookery book should be there for inspiration. Recipes should be a guideline, and they shouldn't be cast in stone.
I'm a great fan of farmed products, as long as it's done properly, because it allows people to be able to afford them. If it wasn't for farmed products, a lot of people wouldn't eat so well.
I love the countryside, which is where I live and feel most comfortable, and hate being surrounded by herds of people.
'Wall Street' was the big movie of 1987, the year in which Harveys opened. It was a film about greed and self-indulgence, about hunger for success, and Michael Douglas's line, 'breakfast is for wimps,' became a mantra for anyone who wanted to get to the top.
In 1990 at Harveys, when I was 28 years old, I became the youngest chef to win two Michelin stars. It was a huge achievement.
I take so much from my life. I have my shooting and my fishing. I have my working life. I have my relationship with my children.
