The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.

Now the restaurants have begun to catch up with the wine-making there are numerous great restaurants in Napa Valley and it's wonderful because the people are there for just that: great food and great wine.

Eating and food are a wonderful part of our life's experience and half of us are walking around dreading having to figure out what to put in our mouths.

Everything is just better in California - the wine the food fruits and vegetables the comforts of living. Even the instrumentalists are generous and curious. Everything is wonderful.

I think the most wonderful thing in the world is another chef. I'm always excited about learning new things about food.

The wonderful thing about Food for Thought is that it lets you keep your hand in theater and be in front of a live audience without a commitment of six months or even three months.

My late wife Olympia was Goan and I've been to India many times. I love the food there. We used to do our shopping in Southall where you can find cheap but wonderful fruit like mangoes vegetables and spices. I didn't do much of the cooking as Olympia did a lot - I was the under-chef and did some of the chopping.

I tell my students it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself somebody next door who looks like you. What's more difficult is to identify with someone you don't see who's very far away who's a different color who eats a different kind of food. When you begin to do that then literature is really performing its wonders.

Sandwiches are wonderful. You don't need a spoon or a plate!

At the start of his second term one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization?