I'm going to take care of the man I'm with. I grew up in a household where my mum takes care of my dad - she cooks she does everything - and that's the kind of girl I am.

My mom is a really good cook. I didn't get the cooking gene but she cooks this really amazing dinner every Christmas and that's always really fun.

You hit a certain age and - especially because of TV - the young cooks coming up say 'You're a sellout because you're doing something other than what you should be doing.' 'Top Chef' is a double-edged sword for me: There's a whole group of people who will not come to the restaurants because they assume I'm not in them anymore all I do is TV.

My inspiration was my mom. She's a great cook and she still cooks and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.